A Snapshot of the Lightwood Banes
by The Purple Warlock
Summary: So this is going to be a series of snapshots into the family life of Alec, Magnus, Max and Rafe. I know this isn't an original idea but hopefully you guys will like it anyway. The story is going to be from various people's point of view.
1. Max

**So this is going to be a series of snapshots into the family life of Alec, Magnus, Max and Rafe. I know this isn't an original idea but hopefully you guys will like it anyway. I've based the first chapter off the chapter in "The Tales of the Shadowhunter Academy" in which Max enters Malec's life. The story is going to be from various people's point of view. Depending on the chapter will determine whose P.O.V it will be (hope that makes sense)**

 **If there is anything you liked/didn't like about the chapter, or if there is a is a snapshot you want to see (I will give you credit as being the one who suggested the idea) let me know in the reviews or by private message.**

***Magnus P.O.V***

Life was always full of surprises, and some surprises were just bigger than others. I had thought, by being a four hundred year old Warlock, I had had my fair share of surprises, especially when it came to the Nephilim. Alec Lightwood however was a Nephilim and continually surprised me. He had surprised me at the start of our relationship, and simply hadn't stop since. Half the time he hadn't meant to surprise me, it just happened, and that was the case with the latest surprise.

I had been asked to give a few lectures at the Shadowhunter Academy, and had only accepted after they had agreed to a few of my demands (one of which was bringing Alec with me) which was how I found myself there. Whatever I had been expecting to happen during that trip, it didn't come close to what actually happened. The day itself was off to a really good start, as Alec and I were making love. Well we were until Simon came barging in, much to my annoyance and Alec's embarrassment. He did leave, only after blurting out several apologies and saying that there was a Warlock baby at the entrance to the Academy. Once changed, I left to investigate with Simon, leaving Alec to sort himself out.

Once we made our way through the assembled crowd, it seemed Simon had been right about the baby being a Warlock. The navy blue skin was a somewhat give away. Taking the baby into my arms, I was able to establish that the baby was both a boy and about eight months old. Although it broke my heart that he had been abandoned, at least the mother hadn't tried to kill it, as my step-father had done to me. I was brought out of my thoughts when Alec arrived, and asked to hold the baby and I was more than happy to oblige. Despite the fact that I had had experience with babies before, it was obvious to all who were gathered that Alec clearly had more experience as the child immediately fell silent, its earlier whimpers gone.

It was at this precise moment that the Dean, Catarina and some Shadowhunter called Scarsbury decided to turn up. Scarsbury seemed to want to hand the child over to the clave, but I wouldn't let that happen, I _couldn't_ let that happen. In my mind the best option was for the child was for Alec and I to care for the child until a suitable home could be found for him. Little did I know that I was the only one who had this plan. We'd taken the baby back to our room, and all they wanted to was cry. It went for so long that I found myself needing to get out and take a walk, otherwise I too would find myself crying.

I'm not sure how long I had been out, but found myself heading back to Alec, the baby and our room with Lily, who was the leader of the New York vampire clan because she needed to discuss something with Alec. And this was where major surprise number two of the day occurred. When I had left the room, there had only been Alec and the child in the room. On my return I found that Alec and the baby had been joined by Alec's parents Maryse and Robert, his sister Isabelle, his parabatai Jace and Jace's girlfriend Clary.

Where I was trying to make sense of the scene in front of me, Lily went charging in to talk to discuss whatever it was she needed to discuss with Alec, which thankfully was already in the process of being dealt with. It was only then she realised what Alec was holding, and temporarily turned soft before leaving. As soon as she was gone, I tried to get to the bottom of why so many Lightwoods were in the room. Apparently Simon had told Izzy, and Izzy had told Maryse and Jace, and Jace had been with Clary. They had all unanimously decided to close ranks and turn up and help child proof my room. Izzy then nearly gave me a heart attack by saying she had been child-proofing the room USING MY CLOTHES and planned doing the same to my loft. I swear these Shadowhunters were going to be the death of me.

If that wasn't bad enough, they all seemed to be under the impression we were keeping the child. Where they had gotten this idea I had no idea. It wasn't until they started discussing names did major surprise number three happen (honestly you spend years with no big surprises then three happen in one day. What was a Warlock to do these days?) The offered to use their surname for the child until they were old enough to choose their own. They understood I had chosen Bane for myself, and it wasn't custom for Warlocks to pass on their name, so offered name of Lightwood, an old, proud Shadowhunter name for a Downworlder. The gesture was a huge, significant one. On top of that, they (well Izzy and Maryse) suggested his first name be Max, after the son and brother they had lost. Max had once been family, so the fact they wanted the baby to carry that name meant something.

Whilst I was still in shock over the name suggestion, Alec thanked his family for the suggestion, but said that the decision was ultimately for me and him to make, and we hadn't actually discussed it yet. It was then I realised that it wasn't just Alec's family who thought we were keeping the baby, Alec thought that as well. Conversations needed to happen and they needed to happen soon. It seemed that all the major surprises had caught up with me, leaving me feeling rather light headed. I sat down on one of the chairs in an attempt to process what was happening. Robert made that very difficult by asking if Alec and I had made the baby ourselves. He did understand how biology and baby making working worked didn't he?

Somehow we managed to get all of the Lightwoods out (it was gone midnight before Maryse and Robert finally left. I think they would have stayed longer had we let them) and I finally got to talk to Alec. I decided that I would just come straight out with it and say I had no intention on keeping the child, with the intention of making him understand and agree with me. That's not what happened of course, and (you've guessed it, surprise number four of the day) somehow managed to not only convince me to keep the child but somehow ended up proposing to me. It broke my heart to decline, it wasn't because I didn't love him that I declined, it was because I lived him so much and wanted him to have the wedding he deserved, in gold that I declined. One day Alec, I promise.

The following day there was a party to introduce the baby to the people we cared about. A few years ago, if someone had told me that I would be introducing my son to a group of Shadowhunters and Downworlders (all of whom meant something to me) I would have assumed they were either high, drunk or were suffering a head injury, and yet here I was doing just that. Proof that life was full of surprises, even if you were a 400 year old Warlock. There was a pause in the music, and Robert Lightwood had chosen that precise moment to ask about the babies name, causing everyone in the room to turn and stare. "Ladies and Gentlemen I would like to formally introduce you to my son: Max Michael Lightwood-Bane" I said.


	2. Rafael

**In this snapshot, Rafael becomes a member of the family.**

 **Also I'd like to apologies. I don't speak Spanish, so I had to resort to Google Translate. I know I'm sorry. If there are any mistakes in the Spanish, let me know and I can correct it.**

 **If there is anything you liked/didn't like or if you have a request for a future snapshot (I will credit you for having the idea) let me know in a review or a private message.**

 **I own nothing but the plot.**

***Alec P.O.V***

A couple of years after Max had entered our lives, I was sent to Buenos Aires, to deal with an issue they were having with a clan of Vampires. I thought it would be straight forward: turn up, deal with the problem, leave. Job done. Sometimes in life, plans just don't work out the way you want them to, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. I had met the troublesome Vampires and had dealt with the problem and was heading to a suitable spot to create a portal back to Magnus and Max when I was aware of someone following me. I turned round, expecting a Shadowhunter or Downworlder (I was glamoured at the time) only to find a small, skinny child. Before I was able to fully take in the follower, they ran off, clearly terrified.

Something inside me told me that there was something very wrong about the situation, and I knew I needed more information before I could work out exactly what was wrong and what to do about it, so I decided to run after the child. They may have had a head side, but I was faster and quickly caught up with them. Somehow we had ended up in a dead end, so there was nowhere for the child to run, and it was then I was able to take the child in. They were very skinny, so had clearly spent a fair amount of time on the streets. My heart sank then: the streets were no place for anyone, let alone a small child.

Seeing as I didn't speak a word of Spanish, I couldn't ask the child for any information, like their name, age or even what they were. I had a feeling that they were Nephilim but wasn't entirely sure. Even if there wasn't a language barrier, the child was absolutely terrified, indicating that something traumatic had happened to them (presumably before they were on the streets, but you couldn't be sure just by guessing) to make them so scared. They had just curled up saying "por favor vete" and "Por favor no me lastimes" which I later found out from Magnus meant "Please go away" and "Please don't hurt me".

Realising that I needed to gain the child's trust somehow, I left them and portaled home. Thankfully Max was napping when I got in, which gave me time to talk to Magnus without us getting distracted. As much as I loved our little blueberry, there were times Magnus and I needed some alone time, and this was one of those times. Once I filled Magnus in, we decided on a plan of action. As I had seen the child before, I would go back and forth a few times in an attempt to gain at least some of the child's trust, despite the fact I couldn't speak a word of Spanish, other than a few phrases that Magnus had taught me. Once the child had gotten used to me, Magnus would join me and we'd bring the child home with us.

Having grabbed some food, I portaled Buenos Aires and set off to find the child. Thankfully I didn't have to spend too much time searching for him. He seemed to freeze up in terror, so I just squatted down in an attempt to look less intimidating and tried to use one of the phrases Magnus had told me. "Hola mi nombre es Alec" (Hello my name is Alec) I said softly. The child didn't say anything back. "¿Tienes hambre?" (are you hungry?) I then asked. The child remained silent, but nodded, which was something I suppose. I extended my hand which had the bag of food in it saying "Tengo comida, ¿te gustaría?" (I have food, would you like it?) and with this the child slowly made their way forward. "Sí" (yes) they said, so quietly that, had I not been concentrating I would have missed it.

This happened a few times over the next few days. The more I came, the more the child got used to me. They were still scared, and would only say one or two words at a time, but it was something. I decided it was time for Magnus to come with me (Izzy was looking after Max, which was something they were both more than happy about. Izzy was one of the few people who knew the truth about what we were doing in Argentina). I thought the child would warm to Magnus more than he had done with me, because of the fact they spoke Spanish. As it turns out I was wrong. As soon as the child caught sight of Magnus, he did something that surprised us both my running to hide behind me. He hadn't been so close to me before.

Magnus kept his distance, sensing the child's fear. "Hola pequeño hombre mi nombre es Magnus" (Hello little man my name is Magnus) Magnus said softly. The child remained silent (I had warned Magnus he wasn't much of a talker so he wouldn't get insulted if the child didn't say anything). "No estoy aquí para hacerte daño" (I'm not here to hurt you) He then added. At this, the child poked their head more round my legs, but was still mostly hidden behind them. Magnus smiled encouragingly at the child. "Cuantos años tienes?" (How old are you?) Magnus asked. There was a pause, as we were waiting to see if the child would answer. "Cinco" they said quietly, holding up five fingers. It was then I realised what Magnus's question had been. I knew the child had been young, I just hadn't realised just how young he was.

After a little bit more talking we convince the child to come back to New York with us, promising that he would be safer there. He held my hand incredibly tightly as we walked through the portal. On returning, Izzy and Max came to greet us. Had Izzy not been there to hold onto Max, the shy boy hiding behind me would have had a very enthusiastic three year old run over and hug him (Max had started growing horns, and sometimes forgot about them, especially when hugs were involved, and there were lots of hugs where Max was involved) and that would have unnecessarily terrified the boy. "Maxy, I need you to be calm ok. He's very scared and doesn't speak English. Can you do that for me?" I asked, and Maxy thankfully nodded. Magnus looked down at the child saying "Este es nuestro hijo Max. Tiene mucha energía pero es inofensivo" (This is our son Max. He has a lot of energy but he's harmless), which caused the small child to look at Max with the same curiosity that Max was looking at the boy.

I looked at Izzy asking "how was Max?" causing her to grin. "As good as gold and better. It's always a pleasure to spend time with my Nephew" she said, which made me relax. I knew Max loved being with Izzy, so much so he made sure he was on his best behaviour to make sure she kept coming back. He was a good kid like that. I leant over so only Izzy heard the next bit "Is it Ok if I give you a proper explanation later?" and Izzy gave a small nod, then glanced over at Max "I'm going now Max. I'll see you next time buddy" she said, causing Max to run over to his Aunty, hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. "Bye bye Aunty Iz Iz" he said, causing Izzy to hug him just a little tighter. Once Izzy was gone, Magnus took the child to have a bath and change whilst I stayed and spoke to Max, making sure he understood what was going on.

I had been concerned about how Max was going to react to having someone else in the house, but thankfully, Max was ever the loveable little boy he had raised him to be. He realised that he was going to have a new friend, and was very happy about that. What he didn't realise was that Magnus and I were planning on making him more than Max's friend but his brother. That night, when both boys were asleep, Magnus and I had a long talk about the boy. Magnus had found out, by doing some research that the boy was one of the few survivors of the Buenos Aires Institute, which was why he was all alone on the streets. He had no one to go back to. We had already considered adopting him, like we had adopted Max, but having heard this bit of information, I knew it was something we had to do. We decided on the name Rafael Santiago Lightwood-Bane for him. As it was still early, I went over to the Institute to talk to my parents (my father was in New York for a few days, he claimed it was a business trip, but I think that was a cover up story to cover up the fact he just wanted to spend some time with Max, not that I was complaining in the slightest) and Izzy.

Telling them what had happened to Rafael had horrified and upset them, so thankfully they fully supported our decision to adopt him. I had to smile at their eagerness to meet the newest member of the family, but I suggested they wait a while, at least until he got used to us a bit more and we had taught him a little English. Thankfully they saw sense and agreed. Returning home, I couldn't help but smile at my slightly strange, but utterly loveable family. I wouldn't change them for the world.


	3. Meeting Family and Friends

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 **I own nothing but the plot.**

***Alec P.O.V***

It took a few weeks or a lot of hard work and effort to get Rafael to a point where we felt he was ready to meet the rest of the family. It would have been a lot longer had we not had Max. Our little Blueberry had been a god send: he was constantly looking out for his new brother, with so much love it made my heart melt. He had even given Rafael some of his toys for comfort, which was a big statement for a three year old. It was hard, seeing the pair now (they were inseparable) to think it had been Max we had been so concerned over when bringing Rafael home, but he had proved our fears to be ill-placed. He was even helping teach Rafael English.

Where a large party had been appropriate for meeting Max, the same could not be said for Rafael. Instead we decided to introduce him to people, in small groups for a short amount of time. He had heard a lot about everyone from Max, who had given them all a glowing report. As Rafael had already, briefly met Izzy, we introduced Rafael to her and Simon first. The second he had seen two unfamiliar faces, Rafael promptly hid behind my legs (we had warned everyone he might have this reaction, so they weren't insulted when it happened). Izzy was her usual child-friendly self, and knelt down so she could look at Rafael in the eyes. "Hello Rafael. I'm your Aunt Izzy, and this is my boyfriend, your Uncle Simon. I hope we can be friends" she said softly. Rafael seemed to realise that neither of them were a threat, and awkwardly shuffled out behind my legs and started to walk towards Izzy. Max seemed to sense his brother's fear, so took Rafaels hand and went over to Izzy and started chatting merrily away. Realising that Max liked both Izzy and Simon seemed to relax Rafael a lot. When they finally left, he admitted he like them. The introductions were off to a good start.

The next pair to meet Rafael was Jace and Clary. Clary kept telling me how excited she was to meet him which was really sweet. Jace kept acting cool, like he wasn't that bothered, but I could tell he was just as excited as Clary was, no matter how much he tried to hide it. Like with Izzy and Simon, Rafael hid behind me as soon as he saw someone he didn't know. I looked down at him saying "Rafael, this is your Aunt Clary and Uncle Jace (in the corner of my eye, I could see that both Clary and Jace were taken back by being referred to as Aunt and Uncle). They are really looking forward to meet you" I said. Max had gone out with Magnus, so I couldn't rely on him to calm down Rafael and get him to start bonding with his family, so I took it upon myself to do the job. Gently taking his hand, I walked him over to Jace and Clary. It wasn't until Clary knelt down next to him, and gave him a small toy did he realise that they weren't all big and scary.

I'd left my parents until last, as they were the two people I was most concerned about. I knew they would like Rafael (they were constantly asking how he was) it's just they didn't necessarily like each other. Sure they were civilised around each other, but being civilised didn't necessarily mean liking. There was of course the possibility that they would like Rafael so much they wouldn't want to leave. Of course, I hoped they love him as much as they loved Max, they could be a little bit over bearing at the best of times. Max had heard that Grandma and Grandpa were coming round, and insisted that he stayed at home to see them (I don't blame him. They spoiled him rotten and loved him to pieces). Hopefully Max would make realise that my parents might look scary, but they were (mostly) harmless.

My parents had decided to turn up a few minutes early. Magnus had glanced over at me saying "well here goes nothing" then opened the door to let them in. My parents and Magnus hadn't always gotten on, but over the last few years, and like with a lot of things, they were making the effort to make amends and be better people. When Rafael had met Izzy, Simon, Clary and Jace he had hidden behind me, and had needed someone to help him come over and meet his family. This time, he had taken Max's hand and had allowed Max to lead him over to my parents. "This is my brother Rafael" Max announced proudly to my parents. He then turned to Rafael "This is Grandma and Grandpa" with an equal amount of pride, and in that moment I couldn't stop grinning. Dad had taken Max's spare hand, and Mum had taken Rafaels spare hand (it had surprised me he had given it so willingly) and together into the front room. I heard Magnus let out a sigh of relief. The meeting I had been most worried about had actually gone the best.

Once Rafael had met his family, we felt like we could have more visitors. The first time I had Maia and Lily round (I had to have our regular meetings elsewhere to let Rafael settle in), we soon realise we wouldn't actually spend that much time discussing all things Downworld, but instead would spend our time bonding with my two sons, not that I was complaining. Since we had taken him in, Rafael's English had improved enormously. Sure he wasn't fluent, got frustrated when he couldn't get the right words out and often slipped into Spanish, but he could say enough to get across what he wanted. Max, bless him, had asked Magnus to teach him Spanish so he could communicate with his brother. Maia and Lily were really good with him, tried to tone down how much Downworld they were around him to make him feel safe, rather than scare him. No one knows what happened to him in Buenos Aires, but we do know he was terrified of the things he saw with the sights, meaning we were all consciously trying not to scare him with it. I hoped we could get him to a point that his sight no longer scared him.


	4. Magic Max

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 **I own nothing but the plot.**

***Magnus P.O.V***

A few years after Max joined our family, shortly after he turned seven, he performed his first bit of magic. Alec had started taking Rafael to the Institute, so he could get used to being there. As Maryse had retired from being the head of the Institute, she offered to look after Rafael whilst Alec either trained or attended Clave matters. This meant that Max and I were left alone at home, not that I was complaining. I always loved moments like this, when I just got to spend quality time with my little Blueberry. Although his horns were still growing (they and taken their form but would grow as Max grew, staying in proportion to the rest of him) but at least they had stopped giving him the pain they had been when he was young (which, as a parent had been horrible to watch as there was only so much Alec and I could do). We had finished breakfast (Max had insisted pancakes) and had planned to do some arts and crafts, something Maxy had developed a growing love for. Most of his art centred around Pirates, to which he create a number of stories whilst he created his creation.

I had gone to change. I had being wearing a rather nice shirt, and realising that I was letting Max loose with glue, feathers and glitter (I was well known for my love of the sparkly stuff, but with Max, it got anywhere and everywhere) and as much as I loved him, he was not redesigning my shirt, so I changed into something old and way past it's fashionable shelf life. Once I returned, I went to join my son. When Max and I had done arts and crafts before, he would sit on a stool, and say what he wanted (we had all of the arts stuff in an arts cupboard which was up high up so neither Max nor Rafael could reach, but was not beyond the reach of both Alec and me) and I would use my magic to get the stuff. Max was sitting in his usual stool, but what he was doing both surprised and amazed me.

He had somehow opened the arts and crafts cupboard was open (like I said, it was too high for Max to have just walked over and opened it) and he was sitting there, his hands stretched up, making a pack of pens float towards him. Of course, I had explained how magic worked, but hadn't yet started teaching him yet, so I had absolutely no idea how he had both opened the cupboard and was making the pens move towards him. Once the pens were safely on the counter next to Max, he seemed to register I was in the room with him. He looked at me grinning "I did magic Papa" and the pride in his voice was unmissable. Somehow I was brought back to reality. "How did you do that Max?" I asked, my curiosity winning over anything else. "Magic Papa" he said simply. I nodded slowly. Of course, Max, like me, was a Warlock, so the fact he could do magic was of no surprise. What was a surprise was his age. Of all the Warlocks I had known, none of them had done magic as young as Max, and that was what surprised me.

"I saw Blueberry, but how did you know how to use your Magic?" I asked. Max just shrugged. "I don't know Papa. It just happened. I just knew what to do" he said simple. I smiled then, as an idea popped into my head. "Blueberry do you think you could do some more magic?" I asked. There was a part of me annoyed that Alec wasn't here to see this. Max nodded enthusiastically then looked back at the cupboard, put his hands out and, after a few seconds later, the pot of glitter slowly started moving towards Max, just as the pot of pens had done earlier. From then on, both Max and I used our magic to get whatever Max to create his Pirate masterpiece. It was nice to just spend time with Blueberry. We had just finished when Max looked at me with wide eyes saying "Papa, will you show me how to use my magic?" which made me grin. The last person I had trained to control their magic had been Tessa, a century ago. If someone would have told me then, that my next student would be my son, I would have laughed, and yet that exactly the situation I found myself in. I nodded then at Max "of course I will Blueberry" which made him very happy.

Over the next few years, I spent a lot of time teaching Magic how to control his magic. We started with the basis. Sometimes we had success, and sometimes Max would either set something on fire, or send it to another dimension, which would dishearten him. After a particularly bad day, Max had burst into uncontrollable sobs. Through his tears, he kept saying he was a terrible Warlock and was both an embarrassment and disappointment to me and that he didn't deserve magic, which broke my heart. It hurt to not only see him so upset, but to think that there was a genuine possibility he believed the words he was saying. I just sat on the floor, holding him close to me, rocking him backwards and forwards.

"Max, I want you to listen to me very carefully as what I am going to say is important. You are not a bad Warlock, but a very good Warlock. Your magic started a lot earlier than all the Warlocks that I know, and that makes Papa very proud of you. Your still young and learning how to control your magic, so are bound to make mistakes, but you Max learn from those mistakes, which is a highly valuable life skill and will drastically improve your magic. All the Warlocks I know, and I include myself in this, are still learning how to use magic, and we are centuries old. So long as you keep learning, you will get better, I promise. You must never think I am embarrassed or disappointed in you Max. I love you and it would take more than setting a couple of pieces of junk on fire to make me feel disappointed or embarrassed. If anything I am very proud of you and by how much you are trying, and when I grow up, I want to be just like you" and with that I finished. It was a long time before Max spoke again. He just held me tight, and kept taking deep breaths. Once he had eventually calmed down enough, he just looked at me saying "thank you Papa".


	5. Sizzy

**Sissi1789: Thank you so much for your review for the "Meeting Family and Friends" chapter! Hope you like this one.**

 **If there is anything you liked/didn't like or if you have a request for a future snapshot (I will credit you for having the idea) let me know in a review or a private message.**

 **I own nothing but the plot.**

***Alec P.O.V***

Rafael had been part of our little family for a few months by the time Simon finally proposed to Izzy (we (as in me, Magnus, Jace and Clary) had all taken bets as to when he would finally ask her. Annoyingly Jace had been the closest and it had, somehow, made his ego even bigger. Izzy being Izzy had wanted an engagement party on Max's (my brother Max) birthday. It would be the first time Rafe would be in a room with so many people. Sure he had come on in leaps and bounds since that first day he had come through the portal: his English had improved, he was learning to trust both Magnus and I (and the rest of my family) and he and Max were becoming very close. Sure he had a long way to go, but he was making some good progress, which I was happy about.

I'd shared my concerns with Jace and Clary about Rafe, and thankfully they were both incredibly understanding. Clary suggested that we set up a blanket at the side of the music room, for us to be with the boys. That way they were still there, but not in the midst of it all. Once I had told the boys about the party, Max was so excited about the whole thing, and simply could not wait. Rafe was a little bit more reserved, but some of his anxiety seemed to go when I told him the blanket idea, and promised that either Magnus or I (as a minimum) would be with him the entire time.

The day of the engagement party saw a highly excited Max and a somewhat anxious Rafe who just needed a lot of love. We'd taken them both to the Institute for some bonding time with their Grampa (Dad didn't have the first clue about organising a party) whilst Magnus and I helped organise the party. Considering we had two days to get everything sorted, we had done a really good job, and I was proud of our group for getting it all sorted. As promised, a blanket was set up for us to be with the boys which I was grateful for. Once all the preparations were completed, I went to relieve Dad of his childminding duties. On walking into the room I'd left them, I found myself looking at my Dad lying on the floor, with both Max and Rafe hitting him with pillows. Weirdly enough Dad wasn't putting up a fight. Over the last few years, Robert Lightwood had completely changed: he had become more open and accepting meaning that he was the Grandfather to Max and Rafe where he hadn't been a Father to me, Izzy and Max. Sure it was a long time coming but at least the change had happened.

Max and Rafe were so engaged in their game that they hadn't initially realised I was standing in the door watching them. I was about to say something when Max saw me, and ran towards me yelling "DADDY" at the top of his voice, with Rafe slowly following his brother. Wrapping my arms round them, I glanced over to my Dad "they didn't beat you up too badly did they?" I asked, and a small part of me hoped that they had. He just grinned, unfazed by what had just happened. "You've got a good couple of warriors their Alec" was all he said. On my way back to the music room, my mum walked passed. She looked as though she was about to say something, but stopped when she saw the boys. Clearly she had something to say that wasn't for little ears. It was me that spoke "I'll be back, just let me take these two too Magnus" and left. This could not be good.

As promised, I returned without the boys. "I won't keep you long Alec, I just wanted you to know that the Consul might be dropping by" she said. I felt sick. "Do you know why?" I asked, hoping that she did and it would have nothing to do with Rafe, but my heart just dropped when she shook her head. "Whatever happens Alec, you know that I, as well as a large number of others have your back. We won't let anything happen" she said. Without saying the exact words, I knew she had been thinking the same as I had been. Before heading back to my family, I stopped by Clary to tell her what Mum had said, and my concerns. Thankfully she put my mind to rest, saying that she thought my fear was misplace: my worry over Rafe being a sudden addition to the family (she reminded me that Max had been sudden and she added she thought we were wonderful parents, to both our boys) onto a fear that he would be taken away over my somewhat unusual family set up. I left feeling a lot calmer.

Thankfully the entire party was a complete success (with the exception of the fact that the florist had delivered Tulips and Izzy just so happened to be allergic to Tulips). By the time it was over, both boys had fallen fast asleep. Clary and Jace had offered to let us stay over, but we had portaled around with the boys sleeping to know that they would remain asleep.

***A few months later: Sizzy wedding day***

The excitement on the run up to Simon and Izzy's wedding was unbelievable. In the week before, it was all anyone could talk about. The wedding gave me another reason to have respect for Simon. Traditionally the bride would take the surname of the man she was marrying, but Simon wanted to take Izzy's surname, so would be going from being Simon Lovelace to Simon Lightwood. I had to admit it was impressive, Simon was 22 and had gone through 3 different surnames (Lewis, Lovelace and now was about to become a Lightwood). Most men only had one.

This wasn't the only break with tradition that this wedding would see. Normally the bride would walk down the aisle with her Father, unless the Father had died. Our Father was still very much alive, but one of the first decisions Izzy had made was that he would not have the honour of walking her down the aisle. Izzy had always been a fierce, independent woman so I imagined her walking herself, so was very much surprised when she asked me to do the job. Once I had recovered from the shock, I accepted the job. I had no idea I meant that much to her.

The day of the wedding itself came and was full of a certain organised chaos that only we could create. Magnus and the boys (he'd found them suits to where…I drew the line at him adding glitter) went to take their seats (we had all travelled to Idris for the wedding. Rafe and Max had been very excited about this, much to my surprise) and I went to find my sister. She was all dressed in gold, and as usual she looked beautiful. We didn't have long before it was it was time to go. I wouldn't admit it, but I got a little emotional watching Izzy marry the man she had fallen in love with. Of all the people Izzy had dated, I'm glad it was Simon she had decided to spend the rest of her life with.

During the party afterwards, Rafe and Max convinced both Magnus to dance with them and, having seem them both look up at us with big pleading eyes, we couldn't say no. Magnus was the only one who had any idea on how to dance, but that didn't stop us from having fun. By the time it was over, and we dragged ourselves back to our room and scarcely had enough energy to get ready for bed (admittedly the boys needed a little help as they were so tired) before falling fast asleep. I'm glad the day had gone so well, we all needed it, Izzy and Simon most of all.


	6. Training

**I'm sorry this is shorter than the other chapters, I promise I will make it up in future chapters**

 **If there is anything you liked/didn't like or if you have a request for a future snapshot (I will credit you for having the idea) let me know in a review or a private message.**

 **I own nothing but the plot.**

***Rafael P.O.V***

I will always remember the day Dad decided that I was old enough to be taken into the training to learn how to fight with all the weapons. I had spent a couple of years doing all the academic stuff, I had been learning all about runes, the history of both Shadowhunters and Downworlders and had been taught Chthonian, something I found easier than Max (we did the academic stuf together. They had tried to keep it separate but Max and I had kicked up a terrible fuss so they had no choice but to keep us together. Some of the work had to be modified for Max as he was a Downworlder – for example we were both taught how to identify runes, but only I was taught how to draw them) as I was already fluent in two languages and found it really easy to pick them up. Max had tried to learn Spanish but has struggled. Being the caring older Brother I was, I spent a lot of time helping Max with his studies, which turned into a bonding session.

There was some training we had to do separately. I was taken off to the training room to learn how to use weapons, Papa taught Max how to control his magic, and he would often proudly show me what he had learnt. The first time I walked into the training room with Dad and Uncle Jace, Dad said I looked like a kid in a sweet shop, with wide eyes and my mouth hanging open. Sure I had learnt about these weapons, but it was something else to actually see them. I had wanted to go for the real things, which had made Uncle Jace laugh, but Dad had intervened, giving me the practice ones. He promised that one I got the basics right (stuff like correctly holding the weapon and stance) I would be able to get my hands on the real things.

With Dads promise in my mind, I set to work getting as much practice in as possible. According to Aunt Izzy, she hadn't seen anyone as committed to training as I was since Uncle Jace, which made me feel proud and gave me even more determination to succeed. Thankfully all the effort and the hours that I put in paid off, as I continuously got better, and was finally allowed to practice with the real things, which I was very happy about. I put the same time and effort into practicing with the real weapons as I had done with the practice ones.

As I spent so much time in the training room, Max decided to take matters into his hands. As I was till practicing long after his magic lessons with Papa had finished, he would often come up to the training room to practice his magic whilst I trained. We didn't talk much, we just enjoyed each other's practice. This became a tradition that would stay with us for the rest of our lives, not that we knew that then. This joint training time meant that we became really strong fighting partners in battle. Add this to the fact we were very protective of each other, and had each other's back meant that we were a force to be reckoned with. Had Max not been a warlock, we would have been Parabatai. But he wasn't so we settled with brothers, which was fine with us.

It is of no surprise that there were more than a few injuries within that training room, considering how much time I spent in there, but thankfully there was nothing serious. Max (bless him) often scolded me for not being more careful, but it was only because of how much he cared about me that he scolded. As I got older and better, the injures from the training room got fewer, which pleased Max no end.

Like Dad, I had taken to using a bow and arrow, meaning we would spend a lot of time just practicing shooting arrows into targets. The older I got, the less that time was used for practice, and it became more of a time for us to talk about whatever was on our minds, just as Max and I did in the training room. It was nice, just talking about what was going on in our lives, and whatever popped into our heads. Needless to say those conversations got very strange, but I wouldn't change it for the world.


	7. Downworlder Ball

**So within this chapter, Max goes to a Downworlder ball and takes a fancy to a Warlock called Emily. If you would like to see more of Emily, let me know in the reviews :)**

 **If there is anything you liked/didn't like or if you have a request for a future snapshot (I will credit you for having the idea) let me know in a review or a private message.**

 **I own nothing but the plot.**

***Max P.O.V***

I was 17 when I had my first Downworlder only ball. The invitation had originally been for Papa, but he'd been badly hurt whilst helping Dad on a Demon raid, so, as I was Papa's Downworld son, the decision had been made that I go his place. Once the novelty of the idea wore off, I was, I admit, terrified. Rafe did his best to help calm me down and ease my nerves but as he had never been to one of these balls there was only so much he could do. I appreciated the effort none the less. Rafe always knew how to calm me down when I got worked up. It was Kieran who really help me. Kieran was a faerie and the son of the King of the Unseelie court, meaning that he had been to plenty of these balls before.

Rafe had told Kieran that I was getting myself worked up about the ball, which was how I found myself sitting in my front room, with Kieran telling me everything that I needed to know, whilst I was furiously taking notes, not wanting to make a mistake and embarrass both myself and Papa. Kieran seemed to find my note taking amusing, and made the comment "you worry too much little nixie-like Warlock. You will be fine I promise you" which made me chuckle. I had known Kieran for as long as I could remember, and he had called me a "little Nixie-like Warlock" aince the day he met me (I only know this because Papa told me). A lot of people didn't like Kieran because he was a faerie who had ridden with the wild hunt and had made some terrible decisions out of jealousy, but I was one of the few people that really liked him, and considered him to be a personal friend. Because of that Kieran was constantly looking out for me, and made sure I was doing Ok.

The day of the ball had arrived, and I was a mixture of excited and nervous. Papa insisted that I showed him what I was wearing until he was happy. By the time he was, I was absolutely exhausted. Rafe had been tasked with taking photos for Aunt Izzy: a job he did proud, much to my annoyance. Dad tried to act cool, but I could tell he was getting a little emotional about it. It was until I was about to leave with Kieran did he say that he was proud of "his little blueberry" which gave me the extra bit of confidence I so desperately needed.

Despite being fairly early when we arrived, the ball room was already full of Downworlders. I had spent most of my life mostly surrounded by Shadowhunters, and Downworlders that could hide the fact they were Downworld, (which was difficult for me, who couldn't hide the fact I had blue skins and horns without a glamour) but here there were so many people that obviously Downworld. It made me feel like I belonged somewhere. Kieran chuckled, at seeing my face taking it all in. He stayed with me for as long as he could, but his duties as a Prince of the Unseelie Court led him away, leaving me on my own. I decided to grab a drink to give me a chance to fully take the room in and give my hands something to do.

Annoyingly I hadn't been fully looking where I was going and accidentally bumped into someone, causing me to excessively apologise. The person I had bumped into was a girl, (who was one of the most beautiful people I had laid my eyes on) and, going by the fact she had green skin and wings coming out her back, a Warlock like me. "I really am ever so sorry for walking into you, I wasn't looking where I was going" I babbled, making her laugh. The thing was, it didn't feel like she was laughing at me, which made me like her even more. "How about you get me a drink and we forget this whole thing ever happened?" she asked, and I was more than happy to oblige. On handing her a glace of some Warlock drink, she said "thanks. I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Emily. Emily Greenleaf" and offered her spare hand for me to shake. "I'm Max Lightwood-Bane" I said, which caused her to look at me with wide eyes.

"Are you being serious? My first Downworld only ball and I get to meet the son of Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood?" she said, clearly trying to stop herself from full on fangirling. I'd had this reaction before, so it didn't really bother me all that much. I was proud to be their son, so I didn't mind people being like this. "Yeah, Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood are my Dads. I'm actually here because Papa, sorry Magnus is injured and couldn't make it. I'm here on his behalf" I said, making her smile. I then added "Is this really your first ball? I was worried I'd be the only first-timer here and it would be really awkward" I said, and Emily nodded. "I turned 18 a couple of months ago, and this was the first Downworlder ball to happen since then. But now we've met and we can stick together and battle the awkwardness together…that is if you want to. I guess you're used to a higher class of people given who your family is" she said, a little awkwardly.

I grinned. "I would love that actually. To be honest, it would be nice to get to know someone who's Warlock marks are as obvious as mine" I said, and offered Emily my arm, which she happily accepted. We just aimlessly walked around getting to know each other. I told her all about my family, especially my Dads and Rafe, and she told me all about her family. She, and her little sister Amy (who was also a warlock. Her mark was the fact she had purple skin) had been abandoned when her mother had finally left an abusive relationship (the Demon had disguised himself as a human) and couldn't deal with the fact that both her daughters were obviously not human. They'd both been taken in by a female Warlock (her mother had green hair and webbed hands for her marks) and had brought them up with so much love, Emily saw her adopted mother as her real mother, not her birth mother.

We spent a lot of time moaning about the annoyance of glamour's. "It would be great to just walk down the street in our coulourful, horned, winged glory…but I don't think the Mundanes small minds could deal with that" Emily said, and I just laughed at the image of us doing that entered my mind. I was about to say something, when the music changed. Emily got highly excited at the new bit of music, and grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the dancefloor saying "dance with me Max!" and who was I to say no? Papa had insisted that Rafe and I had at least some knowledge of dancing, should we find ourselves in this position. It would have helped had the person I had been dancing with not been as beautiful as Emily. But Emily was beautiful and I found myself forgetting everything Papa had taught me. Thankfully Emily was more focused on having a good time than my dancing ability, and this soon rubbed off on me. I was enjoying being this close to her and neither of us taking ourselves too seriously. A few dances later, we took a break from dancing and went to get another drink.

It was then we were joined by Kieran. "Kieran this is Emily Greenleaf. Emily this is Prince Kieran of the Unseelie Court" I said. Emily seemed at a loss of what to say in the presence of royalty so simply curtsied. "I was going to see how you were coping Max, but it seems that you are doing well on your own and have caught the attention of a fine young lady so I shall leave you two alone" Kieran said, and with that he left. Emily seemed to be in a state of shock, and, not sure what else to do, I took her outside to get some air. "I'm sorry if Kieran startled you. I've known him so long I guess I forgot that to be suddenly introduced to a Prince can be a bit overwhelming" I said apologetically, terrified that whatever we had had before had been lost. Emily smiled then "It wasn't your fault. I should have known there was going to be royalty" she said, which was followed by a short pause, neither of us sure what to say. "Can I show you something?" Emily suddenly asked, and I was more than happy to agree. Slipping her hand into mine, Emily lead me away from the ball, and towards a wooded area. We kept walking until we found a small clearing filled with various flowers.

"My mother used to bring my sister and I here, to learn about the flowers you don't find in the mundane world. These flowers are a part of the faerie land. They are beautiful don't you think?" she said. I nodded, they really were. I glanced over at her, taking it all in "Not as beautiful as you" I said. I hadn't planned on saying those words, not yet anyway, but I didn't regret saying them once they were out of my mouth. Emily grinned then "you think I'm beautiful?" she asked, with a certain innocence about her. "Absolutely. I admit, it was the first thing I thought when I saw you" I said, somewhat awkwardly. I then added "I'm going to be honest Emily. I like you. A lot, and I'm glad I got to come here instead of Papa, as I got to meet you" I said. This seemed to please Emily as she lightly cupped my face, pulled me towards her and kissed me softly on the lips. I wish I could have frozen that moment, for it was perfect.


	8. Downworlder Ball part two

**Sorry I haven't updated in ages. I'll do a couple of chapters to make up for it! This is the second part of the Downworlder ball, in which we find out how the ball ends, and the reaction of Alec, Magnus and Rafe to the fact Max now has a lady friend.**

 **If there is something you liked/didn't like or if there is a snapshot you want to see feature within this fanfiction, let me know in the reviews or by private message. I will acknowledge you as the source of the idea.**

 **I own nothing but the plot!**

***Max P.O.V***

Once the kiss broke, we both just stood for a couple of seconds just staring and grinning at each other. It was me who broke the silence by saying "I know we've only known each other a couple of hours, and I hope you don't think I'm being too forward but would you be agreeable to my seeing more of you?" I hoped the nerves I felt didn't make themselves known in my voice. I really did want to see more of Emily, as I really did like her. She just grinned at me then saying "I'd like that a lot Max" which made me very happy indeed. We ended up lying in the flowers, holding hands and just talking about whatever popped into our heads. I learnt that 'Greenleaf' had been the Warlock name she had given herself (she had decided to keep the name Emily, which was the one thing she had from her birth mother) simply because her skin was as green as leaves. She laughed then, saying I probably thought it was silly. "It suits you. Your name. At least your skin colour offers a suitable surname. I don't thing Max Blueberry has quite the same ring to it" I said which made Emily giggle. Before she could reply, another voice came out from behind us "you're right, Max Blueberry does have a terrible ring to it. Please let this be the only time it is said" and I could tell it was Kieran, and had a feeling he was smiling. Turning round, I realised I had been right.

"So this is where you have been hiding little nixie-like Warlock (I blushed when he called me that in front of Emily), the ball has been over for some time, Not that either of you seem to be aware. It is time for us to leave" he said. It was true, we had lost track of time. Helping Emily up, we followed Kieran back to the ball room. I waited with Emily as a portal was created to take her home. She insisted that I didn't have to, but I simply said that I wanted to. My patience it seemed was rewarded as she scribble her address down on a napkin, asking for me to write to her (which I was that happy to agree to) and a light kiss on the check, and with that she was gone. The grin on my face was undeniable. I felt like I was ready to conquer the world and that nothing could bring my mood down. This didn't go unnoticed by Kieran. "The first touch of love is a beautiful thing is it not?" He asked. Was I in love with Emily? We had only known each other a few hours but I liked her a lot, and I'm sure she returned my feelings. "I'm not sure as I would go as far as calling it love, but whatever it is certainly is beautiful" I responded, causing him to smirk. "I felt the same when things started out with Mark" he said simply.

I had told Papa, Dad and Rafe that they didn't need to stay up for me, but as I approached the loft, it was obvious that they had. Kieran glanced over at me just before we got to the door saying "this is where I leave you Max. Take care of yourself and your lady friend" and with that he was leaving. Bracing myself for the questions I knew I was going to get, I let myself in. Three pairs of eyes turned to look at me the second I walked in. They weren't even trying to act subtle about the fact they had stayed up to hear everything: there were coffee mugs everywhere and they had moved one of the armchairs so it faced the sofa, presumably for me to sit and answer their questions. It was a good thing I wasn't tired as I had a feeling I would be there a while. Without being told, I took myself to the armchair, and said simply "so what do you want to know?"

It was Rafe that got in first by saying "we heard what Kieran said to you whilst you were outside. What did he mean by 'Lady Friend?' and don't you dare say nobody!" I signed. I knew this would happen and there would be no rest until they had gotten every detail out of me. "Her name is Emily Greenleaf. I accidentally walked into her when I was getting a drink. Kieran had scarcely even left me and I had already embarrassed myself. I could tell that she was a Warlock, and we seemed to get on really well, we spent the rest of the ball together, and have made efforts to keep in touch" I said. It was Papa who asked the next question "How could you tell she was a Warlock?" which made me smile. I guess he wanted to know if her mark was like his: something that could be hidden easily or one like mine: one that was really obvious. He knew I was self-conscious about my mark, as, apart from Caterina (and now Emily) I didn't know anyone with brightly coloured skin. I had also been the only one growing up with extra bits growing on my body (thank you horns). "Well the green skin and wings growing out of her back was something of a giveaway" I said simply.

The question that came from Dad surprised me (simply because it was it was the sort of question that either Papa or Rafe would have asked) as he asked "Did you kiss her?" which made me blush. I shook my head, and I could feel the disappointment in the room. "Because she kissed me" I then said, causing Rafe to leap up and run around the room yelling "Maxy's been kissed" at the top of his lungs. It's a good thing we had magic, otherwise the neighbors would have complained. I had to give full details of the kiss, and of everything else that happened at the ball. Eventually the questioning came to an end at it was time to go to bed. By this point I was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed. I had scarcely crawled into bed when I had fallen asleep, dreaming of a certain green winged Warlock.


	9. Argentina

**In this Chapter, Rafael returns to Argentina as part of his year abroad, and gains a Parabatai and a girlfriend. If you want to see more of the characters introduced in this chapter, let me know in the reviews.**

 **If there is anything you liked/didn't like or if there is anything you want to see in this fanfiction (you will be credited as the source of the original idea, let me know in the reviews.**

 **I own nothing but the plot.**

***Rafael P.O.V***

Having spent most of my life growing up in New York with Papa, Dad, and Max, I hadn't really put much thought the first five years of my life I had spent leaving on the streets of Buenos Aires. Although I was officially Argentinian, I had spent most of my life living In New York, so classified myself as an American Shadowhunter. Sure I had a different colour to my family, and Spanish was my first language (in the sense that it was the language I had leant first. I spent most of my life speaking English) but it wasn't until I turned eighteen, and the option of doing a year at another Institute became available. Dad and I had a running joke that I should go to Peru, for no other reason other than the fact that Papa had a life-long ban from the country. When I actually sat down and considered the year abroad, I realised that I had no real desire to go to Peru, but instead to a country I hadn't been in thirteen years: Argentina. When I spoke to Papa and Dad about it, they fully supported me, and agreed to help in any way they could. Max on the other hand was not so happy about the situation. "Who will I have to annoy when you're gone?" he had exclaimed. He had then promptly thrown a pillow at me and fling himself onto his bed. I decided to leave and let him have his moment.

Everything had been arranged really quickly, which I was really happy about. By the time the day came for me to portal over to Argentina. It was a given to say I was excited, but I was also nervous. Although the point of having the year abroad was to learn about how other Institutes ran, I had other reasons for going. I wanted to learn about the city and the country I had been born in and to create some better memories of that place other than living on the streets and stealing food from people's pockets. I'd hoped to have a small parting: that I would portal to Argentina from our loft in New York, with Dad, Papa and Max waving me off, but there was one slight problem: Dad was a Lightwood, and Lightwoods never did anything on the small or by half. I'm not entirely sure how it happened but I found myself surrounded by everyone that mattered to me: Papa, Dad, Max, Aunt Izzy, Uncle Simon, Clary, Jace (I'd stopped calling them aunt and uncle when I hit being a teenager, but I still loved them and they were still an important part of my life) and both my grandparents. Caterina, Tess and Jem had also made an appearance, which was nice as I didn't see them as much as I wanted to.

Having a lot of people all together meant that there was a lot of food, which had cheered Max up a lot (he was still being grumpy over the fact I was leaving on an adventure without him). Grandma had made a lot of cake which had been very much appreciated by everyone. According to Uncle Simon, Aunt Izzy had tried to make something for me to take with me, but the fact she had come empty handed, and the slightly traumatised look on Simons face when he told me, told me how it had ended up. It was the thought that counted, and the fact she had tried meant more than the actual food itself. When the time came for me to go, the mood in the loft noticeably changed. Where there had been a party feel before, there was suddenly a bittersweet feeling now. Going round hugging people, I had people wishing me luck and telling me to have fun. There were tears in Grandmas eyes which surprised me as she didn't seem the crying sort, which resulted in my giving her an extra tight hug.

I knew saying goodbye to Dad, Papa and Max would be the hardest. Where Grandma had being trying to hide the fact she was crying, both Papa and Max had tears sliding down their faces. Dad seemed to be trying to hold it together. Seeing them get so emotional forced a lump into my throat. We just had a massive group hug, and held each other tightly. Somehow I managed to get out an "I love you guys". When the hug broke, and Papa opened the portal, I gave everyone a last minute wave before grabbing my stuff and stepping into Argentina, and the portal closed behind me. Both Papa and Dad had warned me that Argentina was warm, I just hadn't realised just how warm. I had scarcely begun to take in my surroundings when I was joined by the three Shadowhunters, who had been sent to collect me.

"You must be Rafael" said taller of the Shadowhunters. I nodded, to confirm that I was. I was trying to work out the relationship between the tree Shadowhunters, but as it turned out, I didn't have to wait long to get an answer. The person who had asked who I was then continued talking. "I'm Mateo, this (he pointed with his thumb to the guy to his right) is my parabatai Alejandro, and this (he pointed with his thumb to the girl on his left) is my sister Mariana. The twins Emilia and Leonardo would have been part of your welcome party, but Leonardo's an idiot and got himself injured and had guilt tripped Emilia to look after him. Come, let's get you back to the Institute" he said, and turned and left, Alejandro hot on his heels. Mariana was the only one who offered to help me, took one of my bags.

I felt obliged to say something, but wasn't sure on what to say. Thankfully Mariana was very chatty and kept telling me everything she thought I ought to know, like how the city had changed since the war. A lot of the people living at the Institute had been orphaned in the war, like I had been, and, like me, had been living on the streets. Where I had been adopted and brought up in New York, a lot of the orphaned Argentinian Shadowhunters has been taken into the Institute once it had been brought back to some kind of working order and they had been living there ever since. Knowing that they had all grown up together worried me a great deal, as it reminded me just how much of an outsider I was. Mariana seemed to sense my unease by saying "don't worry. We don't often get new people so everyone is so excited to meet you". She spent the rest of the walk telling me about everyone who live at the Institute. I decided that I liked Mariana.

Once we had arrived at the Institute, Mariana offered to show me to my room and give me a tour of the place, which I agreed to. Although there were some similarities between the Buenos Aries Institute and the New York Institute, there were also a lot of differences as well and I was worried I was going to get lost. Once the tour was over, Mariana announced it was time for dinner, which not only meant food, but a chance to meet everyone else. She glanced over saying "don't worry, they'll love you" and as it turns out, she was right. I found sitting between Mariana and the injured twin who introduced himself as Leonardo. Mateo may have called him an idiot, but I thought he was hilarious. By the end of the day, it was clear that I had made two good friends in Leonardo and Mariana.

By the end of the first week, something had become very clear to me: Mateo and Alejandro generally kept themselves to themselves, leaving me to become friends with Mariana, Leonardo and Emilia, not that I was complaining in the slightest. My first letter home was full of me raving about my new friends. I didn't want to make them feel as though I was replacing them, but I did want them to know they didn't have to worry and that I was settling in. They had all offered to speak English for me, but as I admitted I was fluent in Spanish, and wanted to practice, the only English I did was when I was writing home. I'd been there about three months when Mariana and I started dating. When we had told the twins, Emilia had simply exclaimed "It's about time" and on seeing our baffled faces, she added "it was obvious that there was something going on between the pair of you the first time I saw you two together" which caused us both to blush.

Where I had been oblivious to my initial feelings to Mariana, what had always been clear to me had been my bond with Leonardo. There had been a point whilst growing up in which I had decided that I would never have a parabatai. I always fought well with Max, and had Max been a Shadowhunter and not a Warlock, we would have been parabatai, but Max was a Warlock, meaning I was left without a Parabatai, and with the view I would never have one. Training with Leonardo made me revaluate that. We had gotten on from the day we met, and had similar fighting styles so would make a good pair. The fact that I was only in Argentina for a year, my loyalty to Max and the fact that I had only known Leonardo a few months (most Shadowhunters had known their parabatai a few years before becoming parabatai) that stopped me from asking him.

As it turned out, I hadn't been the only person who had considered it. I had been in the training room, about eight months after my arrival, when Leonardo had walked in, and asked if I would talk to him, which I agreed to. Once we were in the gardens, he started talking. "I can't help but noticing Rafe, that you and I not only get on well with each other, but we fight well together. Ideally I would like to wait longer before asking, but neither of us have much time left. Would you consider being my Parabatai?" which caused me to stop in my tracks. Once my brain had processed what he had said I started talking "But what happens when I have to move back to New York?" I asked. Leonardo shrugged "you can stay here, or I can come with you. Or we move between the two" he said simply. I shrugged. "Then it that case Leonardo, I would be honoured to be your parabatai" which made him grin. We set about telling people that evening, so we could start planning the ceremony. I had been concerned about how Max would react, but he was really pleased for me, saying he had known that he knew preventing me from having a parabatai. Dad was ecstatic I was taking after him in having a parabatai.

As we were both nearly nineteen, we had to plan the ceremony quicker than normal, not that either of us were complaining. We had asked Mariana and Emilia to be witnesses, something both girls were more than happy to agree to. Before we knew it, the four of us (we had knighted ourselves 'the four amigos') were in Idris for the ceremony. There was going to be a party afterwards (like I said, Lightwoods don't do things by halves. And Papa would never turn down an excuse to plan a party) but I wasn't thinking about that. Being led into the ceremony room by the Silent Brothers and standing opposite Leonardo in the rings of fire had made everything real. Clutching Leonardo's arms and saying the Parabatai oath and doing the runes had been surreal, but the relief that it was over (I had been worried I would mess up) had been amazing. The party afterwards had certainly been an experience (I was scared it would scare the rest of the amigos off, but they had loved every second of it). Once the ceremony was over, it had been arranged that Leonardo, Mariana and Emilia would transfer to the New York Institute to be with me. Overall it had been one of the best days of my life.


	10. Horns

**In this chapter, Max grows his horns.**

 **If there is something you liked/didn't like or if there is something you want to see in the future (I will credit you as the original source of the idea) let me know in the reviews.**

 **I own nothing but the plot.**

***Magnus P.O.V***

Shortly after Max had turned one, Caterina had convinced Alec and me to go out for a meal for some quality time together. I had been reluctant to go, as I had gotten very emotionally attached and over protective of my little blueberry son and didn't want to be parted from him for too long. Caterina had offered to look after him, by saying she needed some time away from work and spending some time with Max would an ideal way to spend her free time. As soon as she had made the offer, I knew I had to accept. Caterina was terrible at having time off and having time to herself. Ragnor could be relied to convince her to slow down, but since he had died, there was no one to do that. I had found myself with a Caterina willingly having time off to spend with my son, so I decided to agree.

When the day itself came, I spent the best part of twenty minutes telling her everything she might need to know about Max, such as his bedtime routine, and what helped him calm down when he got upset. Caterina just laughed at me, saying "Magnus, I've raised a child before, and I'm a well-trained, well-practiced nurse. Max and I will be fine, we'll be fine. Now be gone with you". I was about to say something but was stopped by Caterina nodding at Alec, Alec literally dragging me out the loft, with Caterina following us and closing the door in my face. Apparently they both had had a feeling that would happen and had planned the manoeuvre for when it did. Part of me was impressed, part of me however was not. Once I had been forced out of my own home, I decided that there was no going back, so went for my date with Alec. As much as I loved my little Blueberry, it was nice to spend some quality time with Alec.

Once our meal was over, we had a wonder round central park before heading back to the loft. Opening the door, I found Caterina cuddling a very grouchy Max. Max had just started teething, so had struggled to sleep and would often cry, and needing a lot of love. "I take it his teeth are giving him grief?" I asked, causing Caterina to look. She shrugged saying "Yes and No" which confused me. Seeing the confusion on my face, Caterina went on saying "Max is growing horns Magnus" the pulled his hair back and pointed to the corner of his forehead. There was a slight lump where she was pointing. "No wonder the little man is so unhappy, having so much growing happening in his head. Is there something we can do to help?" I said, annoyed with myself that I hadn't noticed the horns before. "I had Tessa bring some balm over. Put it on Max's horns in the morning and in the evening, it will sooth the pain. When the horns break, keep the wounds clean. Other than that, just give him a lot of love. Don't worry about not noticing Magnus, you look at him, not as a patient or as somebody paying you for your help, but as your son who you love dearly. Both you and Alec do your best for him, and that's all that you can do" she said, and with that she handed Max back to me, said her goodbyes and left.

Alec then wrapped his arms round my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder. "How is the little man then?" he asked. "Horny" said, still in a daze from my conversation. I felt Alec move and stand in front of me, and look at me in the eye saying "our son is what?" which brought me back to reality. "Max is growing horns" I said. Satisfied that I was now making sense, Alec leant forward and kissed Max on the forehead. "We'll get him through this" he said simply. We did of course get through it, all three of us did. Sure we lost a lot sleep, and there were a lot of tears (and not just from Max) but we got through it. In my mind, Max was going to have horns like Ragnor, and in the sense they were going to be small. Oh how wrong I was. Max's horns just kept growing, meaning that he had large, curled blue horns coming out his head, which lead to him having a balance issue. Alec and I would always panic whenever he fell over, but Max was resilient. He just picked himself and carried on with whatever he was doing prior to the fall.


	11. Friends

**CrystalCave: Thank you so much for your review! I will definitely be having a lot more teenage Rafe and Max in the coming chapters.**

 **So in this Chapter, Max and Emily officially become an item, Max meets some Downworlders his own age and decides to follow in Alec's footsteps. Let me know if you want to see more of these characters, or if you want me to follow up on Max and his friends plight to unite the Downworlders and Shadowhunters. Let me know in the reviews!**

 **Whilst we are on the subject of Max, I am considering having a chapter in the future in which he decides his Warlock name. Should he stick with Lightwood-Bane or should he change it? If you have any suggestions, or an opinion on his decision, let me know in the reviews. I'd appreciate it :)**

 **Like with all the all the other chapters, if there is anything you liked/didn't like or if you have any requests for future chapters (you will be credited as the original source) let me know in a review.**

 **I own nothing but the plot.**

***Max P.O.V***

Since the ball, Emily and I were in regular contact with each other as we were constantly writing letters to each other. With every letter, I realised that I was falling for her a bit more. I hadn't realised how much I talked about her until Rafe turned around to me one day saying "so when are we going to meet the famous Emily? It would be nice to meet the girl you keep talking about" which were followed by murmurs and nods of agreement from Papa and Dad, making me blush. "I don't talk about her that much" I said, as I honestly didn't think I did. Rafe just looked at me funny before replying with "Max, you talk about her daily. We've started taking bets on how long it will take before you mention her. Now answer the question: when are we meeting her?" If I thought I was blushing before, I was definitely blushing now. As it turned out, Papa, Dad and Rafe generally wanted to meet the girl I talked about all the time (and Kieran kept asking about) which was how, a week after we had that conversation, Papa had created a portal in our front room for her to come over to stay for a few days. Yes I was so excited at seeing her again, but I was nervous at what my family would think of her. Rafe had to sit me down and give me some big-brotherly advice, as he had gone through the whole 'introducing girl to family' the year before when he introduced his girlfriend Mariana (for the record they were still going strong) a year before at his Parabatai ceremony.

It was during Emily's visit I officially asked her to be my girlfriend, and she accepted with so much enthusiasm it scared me somewhat. I knew I was going to ask the question whilst she was on her visit, and I had planned on doing it all romantically, but in the end I was so nervous about asking her (I was scared she had realised she could do better than me, would reject me and go after someone else) I just blurted it out when were in my room. My relief at her saying yes caused me to lean over and kiss her, which she thankfully returned. When I told Rafe, he just looked me deadpan saying "it's about time" casing me to elbow him in the ribs.

During her visit, I decided to take Emily to Central Park because I knew she liked being outside and being amongst nature. It did mean that we had to glamour ourselves (something neither of us particularly liked but knew it was a necessity) but seeing her face light up on seeing everything made it worth every glamour we ever had to use. About ten minutes into our walk, we got onto the Downworlders we knew. Although I knew a lot of Downworlders, they were all older than me because they were friends of my parents. Emily had been the first Downworlder I had known my own friends. Emily on the other hand, admitted she didn't know many Downworlders, but did know a few. I was the first Warlock she had met who wasn't related to her. Her mother, was a nurse and Midwife for Downworld, which was how Emily had met her Downworld friends. There was Lucy and Matty, who were Vampires, Daniel, who was a Werewolf and Sapphire who was a Faerie of the Seelie court. Sapphire had only just been born when the Seelie knights had joined the army of Sebastian, meaning that despite doing no wrong, she had grown up under the Cold Peace.

It was because of the work of people like my Dad who had made Sapphire's life easier, and had allowed Emily to befriend her, and ultimately they became best friends. Where I had talked about Emily a lot to my family, Emily had talked a lot about me to her friends. It was Sapphire who had pointed it out. "She always knows when I've had a letter from you, as I'm in a better mood once I've had in. Apparently my face lights up when I start talking about you. She keeps asking "so when do we get to meet the famous Max". You probably think I'm nuts" she said, blushing a little bit, but I found that I just had a goofy smile on my face. "Not in the slightest. I had a very similar conversation with Rafe actually. My family would take bets on how long it would take before I would mention you" I admitted. Realising we both sounded as mad as each other, Emily leant over and kissed me. "I guess that means we both sound a little mad. I hope you know that I talk about you because I like you Max, I really do. I can't wait to tell Sapphire we're dating. She'll probable demand that I create a portal so she can come over to meet you, she if you meet with her standards. She's like that" she said. It was clear just how much Sapphire meant to Emily.

I'm not sure what made me say it but I found myself blurting out "Or I could just come back with you and save her the journey. We wouldn't want you dating someone your best friend didn't approve of" I said. I then panicked, as I realised that I had sounded very forward, I had literally just invited myself over. She just looked at me with wide eyes saying "you'd do that for me?" I nodded. "Well that is, if you want me to, and Papa, Dad and your Mum were Ok with it. I like you a lot Emily. If me getting the seal of approval from your best friend would make you happy then I'll have the inspection" I said. Emily slipped her hand in mine, and gave it a squeeze. "Mama will and Amy will want to meet you, so they should not be a problem. All we need to do is convince your parents" she said. "Papa and Dad have always wanted me to meet Downworlders my own age so they shouldn't be a problem either" I said. I could feel us both getting slightly giddy with the plan that we were creating. "So it is agreed" she said, with a certain finality in her voice. "It is agreed" I confirmed, and with that, she stood on her tip toes, ran her fingers through my hair and pulled me in for a deep kiss, not caring that people could see us. I decided that as she didn't care, I wouldn't either, so I wrapped my arms round her waist and pulled her in close, returning the kiss.

We'd been right, my parents and Emily's parents had been more than happy for the trip to go ahead, so it was agreed that when Emily returned home, I would go with her and stay at hers for a few days. Before Rafe went off to Argentina for a year, I had kicked up a fuss and the person I annoyed on a regular basis was leaving. To get his revenge for my behaviour, Rafe turned into the annoying brother prior to my departure, more for his amusement than mine. Emily found the whole thing hilarious, which only encouraged him. I admit, I was terrified at leaving my family, even if it was for a few days but I was also so excited to meet some more Downworlders my own age. Emily had told me so much about them so at least I had some idea on what I was letting myself in for.

Stepping through the portal I found myself being pounced on by a mass of purple, which turned out to be Emily's younger sister. She seemed to regain some level of self-control and pulled herself off me, only to take a few steps back and stare at me, taking my blue, horned appearance, I couldn't help but feel slightly judged. It seemed Amy, like so many people I had grown up with, didn't have a filter, so said whatever popped into her head. Looking at her sister with massive eyes, the first thing that she said was "you weren't joking when you said he was nice on the eye" which made me blush. Emily seemed to sense this, and diverted the attention from me. "Is Mama home?" she asked, and when Amy nodded, she took hold of my hand and led me towards her home. Reaching Emily's house, the nerves were back. When I had introduced Emily to Dad, Papa and Rafe, we hadn't been dating and I had been doing the introductions, meaning that I was in control. This time however I was being introduced as 'the boyfriend' and found myself having anxiety over the fact that I had no idea if Emily's mum would like me or not. It soon appeared that I had nothing to worry about. Emily had scarcely finished introducing me when I was being offered a seat, mug of tea, slice of cake and being asked about myself. Emily's mum had a lot of respect for Papa, and knew that he would raise any children he had right, which was why she had no concerns over the fact I was dating her daughter.

The following day, I got to meet Emily's friends. She hadn't been joking when she had said Sapphire would want a thorough investigation. She circled me several times, taking in my appearance, then proceeded to ask every question under the sun. Eventually she decided she liked me, meaning that I was not only allowed to date Emily, but join their social group. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was surrounded by people who seemed to like me for me, not because I was a Lightwood-Bane. Don't get me wrong, I loved being a Lightwood-Bane, but it was nice to know that I was more than that.

This new social group did give me a massive reality check. I had grown up in a small little bubble in which Shadowhunters and Downworlders generally got on with each other. Not everyone had been so lucky. Sure the work that Dad had done with Maia and Lily had made a difference, which was very much appreciated and had made life easier, there was still a lot of work to do. Were things had improved for Emily, Lucy, Matty and Daniel, Sapphire still faced a lot of prejudice because she was a faerie of the Seelie court, despite having done no wrong. I had been horrified the first time I had witnesses it as I couldn't think of a single reason why anyone would want to be horrible to Sapphire, but she had just shrugged saying "I've had worse Max" and carried on with her life. She'd grown up with this prejudice, so it had become her normal.

Having done a lot of thinking, I had an idea. Getting the group together, I started talking. "I know that things got really bad after the Mortal war because of the Cold Peace, and I know things have improved a lot since then, but I also know that there is a lot of work that still needs to be done. Shadowhunters and Downworlders need each other, whether both sides want to admit that or not. If you guys are willing, I'd like to follow in the footsteps of my dad, and get an alliance of Shadowhunters and Downworlders together and work towards an agreement that suits everyone" and with that I finished talking, my words met with silence. I suddenly worried that I had overstepped the mark, said something that I should not have said, and that these people decided that, as a result, they would not want to be my friends. "What Shadowhunters would want to help us?" Sapphire asked, and it was a fair question. "Well the Shadowhunters at the New York Institute, I know will want to help. Once we have them on side, I'm sure the others will join" I said. Daniel shrugged then saying "well it's worth a go. We may as well try" and this was followed by murmurs of agreement from the others.

When the time came for me to return home, I couldn't quite believe just how much I had to tell everyone. I had achieved a lot in the last few days, and I was said to leave, but was also excited to see my family again. As annoying as they could all be, I still loved them. Sapphire demanded that I wrote to her (as well as Emily) whilst I was back in New York, and I was more than happy to oblige. I honestly didn't know what people had against Faeries. The two I knew (Kieran and Sapphire) were no different from any other Downworlder I knew and I was happy that I could call them my friends. Just before Emily's mum created the portal to send me home, Emily pulled me out to the garden for some privacy for us to say goodbye. "Thanks for coming Max, it means a lot that you've come and met the people who mean the world to me" she said, which caused me to give her one of my goofy smiles. "Well thanks for having me and doing the introductions, and for putting up with my general weirdness" I responded with. Emily just pecked me on the cheek then before saying "I like your weirdness" which got her a small kiss on the lips. I think the conversation would have continued had her mum hadn't chosen that moment to say that the portal was ready. The last lot of thanks and goodbyes were said, and I then with that, I stepped through the portal and retuned home.


	12. Demon Hunts

**So in this chapter, we find out Rafe's opinions on Demon Hunts.**

 **If there is anything you liked/didn't like, or if there is something you want to see in future chapters, let me know in the reviews.**

 **I own nothing but the plot.**

***Rafael P.O.V***

Dad had always said it was one thing to fight Demons on your own, but it was something else entirely to fight demons with your Parabatai. I had always wanted to know what that was like, but at some point I'd accepted that I would never know. Sure I knew Shadowhunters my age: I trained at the Institute with my cousins and the other Shadowhunters who trained there, and I got on with them but I had never felt a strong enough bond with them, there was nothing about them that made me think "this person right here is the person I want to have as my parabatai". That all changed when I spent a year abroad in Argentina, in the Institute of Buenos Aries. There I meant a Shadowhunter called Leonardo, and even though we had only known each other a few months, we both realised we had something going on, and he asked me to be his parabatai, and I had agreed.

The first demon hunt Leonardo and I went on made me realise what Dad had been talking about when he spoke of hunting with Jace. I knew with every inch of my being that Leonardo had my back, and would defend me regardless of what happened, because I felt the same about him. Not just that, but I felt stronger, because the runes given to you by your parabatai were stronger, more effective. The first demon hunt we went on was a relatively straight forward one, and we had dealt with it in no time. I came home buzzing with excitement and spent the next 20 minutes telling Dad all about it. I eventually stopped once I had ran out of breath. Dad just hugged me saying he was proud of me and was happy that I was happy.

He then admitted that he saw an element of him and Jace in me and Leonardo, which caused me to start grinning like an idiot. I'd grown up looking up to both my Dad and Jace, thinking that they were some of the best Shadowhunters around. It was also seeing their bond that made me want a Parabatai of my own, so knowing Dad was proud of me, and saw him and his own parabatai in me and my own parabatai was really great. I'd always been fairly close to Grandpa, but since Leonardo and I had become Parabatai, we'd become closer. Grandpa once told me that he had once had a parabatai when he was my age, but he had made some terrible mistakes, resulting in him losing his parabatai. He'd turned around and had said "I've done a lot of things I regret Rafael, some of them link to how treated my Parabatai. I can't go back and fix my errors, no matter how much I want to. The link you have Leonardo is a special one, so do whatever you can to keep it. Don't follow in my footsteps. Instead follow the example of your Dad and Jace, or of Clary and Simon. They know what they are doing, a lot more than I did" and with that I felt the conversation was at an end. This was the first time I had heard about Grandpa having a parabatai, and I wanted to know more, but I had a feeling that he wasn't going to tell me, so I decided not to ask.

Depending on the nature of the Demon Hunt, determined on who I went with. If it was a small, straight forward Demon Hunt, I would only go with Leonardo. If it was still straight forward, but there was an added layer of danger (such as a few Demons, but they were the sort that were easy to get rid of) we took the girls with us. If it was a dangerous Demon Hunt, we took as many Shadowhunters as we could. Each type had their own feel, and I enjoyed each type for different reasons. I like the straight forward ones with Leonardo as they were easy, and we could be done fairly quickly. It also meant I could spend time with someone whose company I enjoyed and I knew would always protect and defend me, no matter what. When we went with girls, there was always a bit more things we had to think about, but it did mean I got to spend time with my best friend and girlfriend (don't worry, I did spent time with the pair of them that didn't include demons). The bigger demon hunts were great as there was always a massive element of danger. I think I must be an adrenaline junkie as I was always buzzing throughout the entire hunt. Although Max had grown up with Shadowhunters and understood the way of life, he hated it whenever Dad and I went off on the larger hunts, and he would always stay up until we returned home, so he knew we were alive and safe. I couldn't complain, I knew he did it because he cared, and because I had done the same with him and Papa whenever Dad had gone off and I hadn't been allowed to go.

When I was five, and had first become a Lightwood-Bane, I had been terrified of having the sight. I could see things nobody else could and that had scared me. Both Dad and Papa had explained to me why I could see these things: I was a Shadowhunter, and Shadowhunters had to either fight the things I could see or defend them, but I had tried to fight that. I just wanted the things I was seeing to go away. Now I embraced the fact I was a Shadowhunter with both arms. I was a very proud Shadowhunter and wouldn't want to be anything else. Funny to think how much a person's opinion on something can change so much.


	13. Hurting

**I am considering having a chapter in the future in which Max decides his Warlock name. Should he stick with Lightwood-Bane or should he change it? If you have any suggestions, or an opinion on his decision, let me know in the reviews. I'd appreciate it :)**

 **Like with all the all the other chapters, if there is anything you liked/didn't like or if you have any requests for future chapters (you will be credited as the original source) let me know in a review.**

 **I own nothing but the plot.**

***Alec P.O.V***

When the boys had been young, I had thought that the hardest part about being a parent was when your child needed you less, as they were getting older and could do more for themselves. In my mind, Max was still the eight month old baby that had been left at the Shadowhunter Academy and Rafe was still the scared five year old we had found in Argentina. Now, ten years later, both boys had entered their teenage years, and were going through everything those years included. It was during these teenage years that made me realise that I had been wrong about what the hardest part of being a parent was. It wasn't your children needing you less, it was seeing your children suffering, and there not being a way for you to take their pain away from them.

When Max had been younger, Magnus and I had tried to shelter him from the prejudice from the Shadowhunter world. There were unfortunately still people out there who couldn't see past the blue skin and horns, and we tried to protect him from the horrible things that they would say. When he got older, we couldn't protect him as much, meaning he heard, and understood the comments people made. A teenager's self-esteem is fragile enough as it was, without having to face the prejudice of others. It killed me whenever he had come home in tears because of what someone had said, and would promptly lock himself away in his room, and refuse to come out, or have anyone come in to talk to him.

Magnus took Max's pain worse of all. He, like Max was a Warlock and had all the same prejudice's Max was receiving, but being 400 years old, had developed a thick skin, meaning he wasn't affected by the cruel words that were said. He blamed himself for not having entirely changed the opinions of Shadowhunters around Downworlders, specifically Warlocks. I kept reminding him that, although Max had it tough, it was thanks to him that he didn't have it worse. It was Rafe who really helped his younger brother. On the days when things got really bad for Max, when he would lock himself away in his room, and his sobbing could be heard, Rafe would sit on the floor outside his brothers room and just talk. Some days he would sing Max's praises, saying how he wished he had horns and how, it was because of Max that blue was his favourite colour. Other days he would insult everyone who had ever insulted Max. There were times he tried to do whatever he could to make Max laugh, from telling jokes to singing horrifically out of tune. He did what his brother needed him to do and would keep at it as long as he needed. There were days Max didn't want Rafe outside his room, and would repetitively tell him as such, but Rafe never moved. It became apparent that one the days when Max got like that, it was when he needed his older brother the most. It warmed my heart that Rafe was so fiercely loyal and protective of his brother, and saw him for who he was on the inside, rather than a blue warlock who had horns growing out of his forehead.

Where Max's hurting was on an emotional level, Rafe's pain was physical. He was a Shadowhunter, like I was and, like me, he would have to go out and fight demons. Jace and I made sure he was as well trained as he could be to give him the best chance possible to win whatever fight he found himself in. When he started going out on Demon Hunts, I used to go with him, so I could protect him as much as I could. When he got older, he started going with some of his cousins, and that terrified me. I found myself pacing and unable to remain calm until I knew he had come home safe. I knew danger was part of a Shadowhunter job description, but it was different when you were a parent and your child was out there outing themselves in danger. When he and Leonardo became parabatai, and they went on hunts, it eased my anxiety somewhat, but I still could not be fully at peace until I knew my son was safe.

Thankfully, although he had accumulated a few injuries, it wasn't anything an Iratze couldn't fix. I will always remember the day this hadn't been the case. It was shortly before Rafe had turned 20, and he and Leonardo had gone on what everyone had thought was a routine patrol. I had been going through some of the letters I had received from a number of Downworlders when there was a banging at the door, which sounded urgent. I'd gotten to the door first and had opened it to find Rafe's girlfriend Marianna standing there, completely out of breath and had a look of total fear on her face. "Rafe got hurt, like really badly hurt. I came as quick as I could. You need to get to the Institute as fast as you can. Clary has already sent for the Silent Brothers" she said, and I felt the blood drain from my face. It was a routine patrol, he shouldn't have been hurt badly enough for the silent brothers to be summoned.

There was a short silence before I heard Magnus's voice behind me say "I'll portal us straight to the Institute." Turning round I saw both him and Max running round to get ready. I was about to tell Max there wasn't a chance he was coming when he looked me dead in the eye saying "Dad, my brother is hurt, there is nothing you can say or do that will stop me from going (then to Marianna who was still at the door) You can come in you know, we'll portal you back. Do you know what happened?" which took me surprise. Max was the youngest, and yet was dealing with the news that his brother had been hurt with more calmness and maturity than I was. He had thought to invite Marianna in where I had left her on the doorstep, and had enough sense to ask what had happened. "I don't know much. He and Leonardo had gone off to patrol, and an just over an hour later, Leonardo was dragging him in, saying there had been a demon ambush and Rafe had had gotten been hurt, and demon poison was involved meaning he was scared to use an iratze and we needed a silent brother as soon as possible. Jace helped take him to the infirmary, whilst Clary summed the Silent Brothers, and I ran here as quickly as possible". In that moment, I found myself liking the girl a lot more (don't get me wrong, I liked here already). She had just seen her boyfriend being dragged in, badly injured, and most girlfriends would have gone to the infirmary with them but her first thought was to tell us, his family so we could be there with him. "Well it's a good thing you did. The portal is ready, it's time to go" Magnus said, I could hear my own fear reflected in his voice.

I don't remember much between stepping through the portal and arriving at the Infirmary, but the sight that met my eyes when I got there made me sick. Rafe looked horribly pale and was obviously in pain. He had two Silent Brothers around him doing whatever they needed to do, and Leonardo was sitting next to him gripping his hand and allowing Rafe to use his strength. Magnus went over and asked if there was anything he was able to do, and Max and Marianna joined Emilia the opposite side of the room and just sat on a spare bed, holding hands and used each other's strength to get through what was happening. In that moment, I felt like I couldn't cope. My son was hurt, and I felt like I had failed him. I should have been there to protect him and I hadn't and now he was fighting for his life. It was only when Rafe cried out in pain, because of something the silent brothers had done did I turn and leave. I wasn't going anywhere in particular, I just needed some space to clear my head and gather my thoughts.

I found myself sitting in a room and had my head in my hands when I heard someone enter. I didn't even bother looking up to see who it was. I assumed it was Jace or Izzy, but it turned out to be the last person I'd expected to come find me. "I felt the same way when you first got seriously injured by a demon. I felt like I had failed you and I couldn't forgive myself for it" which made me look up and find my Dad looking at me. "I didn't know you felt like that. I felt like I failed you for not being good enough by getting injured" I replied, and I could see the guilt in Dads eyes. "You were more than good enough Alec. You always have been, and always will be. It was me that was never good enough. I never told you, or your siblings how proud I was of you. You are a better father to your two boys than I ever was" he said, and I could feel a lump in my throat. "He's going to be OK isn't he?" I somehow managed to ask. Before Dad could answer, Jace walked in saying "the Silent Brothers are done. He's weak, but they got the poison out so he's going to make a full recovery". He had scarcely finished talking when I was on my feet and heading over to the Infirmary.

Magnus, Max and I all stayed in the Institute with Rafe until he made a full recovery. It was interesting to see him interact with his friends. Despite their social group including Rafe for a couple of years, you couldn't tell. It was as though he had been their friend for years, which made me smile. When it was finally time to go home, I made the point of pulling Leonardo aside and thanking him for ultimately saving Rafe's life. Had he not brought Rafe back when he had done, he would have died. Leonardo just shrugged saying "Rafe would have done the same for me. He's more of a brother to me than a Parabatai, so I couldn't just leave him" which made me hug him despite myself. I may not be able to protect Rafe all the time, but at least I knew he had people to protect him when I couldn't.


	14. A proposal and wedding ceremony

**NuggetsOfDemigodWisodom: I'm glad you like the snapshots and look forward to them. I hope this one lives up to expectations. As you requested, here is some more Malec, more specifically, a proposal and wedding ceremony. Hope you enjoy.**

 **If there is anything you liked/didn't like or if there is anything you want to see in the future, let me know in the reviews.**

 **I own noting but the plot.**

***Alec P.O.V***

The day Max entered our lives, I ended up proposing to Magnus in a roundabout way. Magnus had it in his head that Max was only going to be a temporary feature in our lives. I, along with my family seemed to have other ideas, and accepted that Max had was going to be a permanent feature within our lives. During a conversation with Magnus, I admitted how I wanted to keep the child, but hadn't expected to have a child before being married. Magnus had just looked at me, with confusion written all over his face. He said that, despite the fact that he loved me, he didn't want to marry me right away, not before Downworlders and Shadowhunters could have a Shadowhunter marriage ceremony.

A few years later, things had changed. More specifically: the law had changed. Shadowhunters and Downworlders were able to get married with a Shadowhunter ceremony. It had been hard work to get there, but it was worth it. I wanted to make my second proposal special, so called in some reinforcements to help. Mum was more than happy to look after the boys, and made me promise to let her know what happened, which I did. Izzy had come over to the loft to help me get things sorted. I didn't want all the candles and roses, that wasn't me, but I did want something special. Izzy suggested leaving a trail of sorts, things to represent our relationship, from the early days which would lead Magnus to me, waiting to propose.

Agreeing to the idea, we set of to work, finding a variety of photos from various dates, the trip to Europe, and then late photos of us with the boys. There were also other things: tickets to places we had been, small gifts we had brought each other and so on. Izzy was about to ask me how I planned to ask him when I got a text from Magnus to say he was finishing with a Client and would be home soon (the client lived in New York, close to the loft so Magnus decided that as it was nice weather, we would walk) meaning that, as much as I loved my sister, I needed to get her out the loft, otherwise the plan wouldn't work. Thankfully she understood. Izzy had scarcely left when I heard Magnus put the key in the lock. It was now or never.

***Magnus P.O.V***

The second I entered the loft, I knew something was off. Normally when I got home, I had scarcely even closed the door behind me before being jumped on by Max and Rafe, and yet here I was, very much on my own. There wasn't even any sign that the boys even lived there. I'd lived on my own for years, and had gotten used to silence, but in the four years since we'd been parents, I'd gotten used to their constantly being noise. I had no idea a four year old warlock and six year old Shadowhunter could make so much noise. I'd just put my keys down, when I noticed something. A photo had been placed by Alec's keys. It was from our first date. There was not with it and I recognized Alec's handwriting saying " _the start of a beautiful and crazy adventure. I'm glad I could share it with you. Thank you for the memories! Shall we look at some more?_ " which peaked my interest.

Walking from the door, to my bedroom, I found a trail of things representing our relationship. It didn't take long to realise that they were in chronological order. As sweet as it was, I couldn't help feel confused. It was obviously Alec's doing but I had no idea why he had done it. I kept trying to think if the date was significant, and I had simply forgotten, but as hard as I tried, I couldn't think of anything. Opening the bedroom door, I found Alec waiting for me. Before I was able to say anything, he'd cupped my face and kissed me. On breaking the kiss, he started talking.

"Magnus, three and a half years ago, we found a blue warlock at the Shadowhunter academy. We called the baby Max, and he became our son. The first night we had him, we talked. You thought he was going to be a temporary feature in our lives and I had other ideas. I convinced you to keep the child as our own, but admitted that I hadn't expected for us to have a child before we were married. You turned me down then, saying you wanted me to have a Shadowhunter wedding wearing gold. We couldn't have one then, but Magnus love we can now, the law has changed. (He then slipped his Lightwood ring off his finger and got down on one knee in front of me). Before you came into my life Magnus, I hadn't accepted that I was gay. I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. You helped me realise that some boys love other boys, and sometimes those boys are a Shadowhunter and a Warlock. There was a time that I thought I would be a parent but, thanks to you we have two beautiful boys. I love you Magnus so much, and I want you in my life until the very end. I guess what I'm trying to say is: Magnus Bane will you marry me?"

It wasn't until he had finished talking did I realise that I had been crying. Alec's proposal was beautiful, and it took a moment for me to process what he had said. He just looked up at me with big wide eyes, waiting for my answer. I'm not sure how I managed to find my voice, but I somehow managed to whisper a simple "yes". Sliding his ring onto my finger, he then stood up and kissed me. I could feel his relief in his kiss, how much my one word had meant to him.

***Alec P.O.V***

When you are planning your own wedding, with a sister called Izzy Lightwood, and a fiancé called Magnus Bane, you just except that there is going to be extravagance. We had gone to the Institute after we had gotten over the emotions of finally being engaged to tell everyone. We had scarcely gotten the words out when Izzy had grabbed Magnus and was pulling him off to discuss wedding plans. I'm sure Magnus and Izzy have spent too much time together, as the word 'glitter' had been used within the first sentence. Mum and Clary both hugged me, Jace just slapped me on the back in a brotherly way and Dad didn't know what else to say so just shook my hand saying "I'm glad it's him and your happy" which made me smile. He hadn't exactly been thrilled that I was dating Magnus at the start of our relationship.

Max then pulled on my trousers to get my attention. Looking down, I saw that both he and Rafe were looking at me expectantly. "Daddy was does marriage mean?" Max asked. (It took him a couple of attempts to get the word marriage right) I then knelt down to look them to them, and tried to explain to them in a way they would both understand. "Marriage is when two people love each other a lot, and want to spend their entire lives together. They have a ceremony in which they make promises to each other to look after, and care for each other. They can't break those promises. Do you understand?" I asked. They both nodded, and I brought them both in for a cuddle.

Izzy and Magnus seemed to take front seat on the planning of the wedding, not that I was complaining in the slightest. It meant that I got to spend a lot of time looking after the boys, which made me happy. They did keep me in the loop, as they kept updating me on the plans. One day, Izzy arrived at the loft and announced she was taking me shopping. Had we not been going to get a suit, I probably would have objected. I knew, even before she had said anything, that's what we would be doing as she had done the same with Magnus and the boys. I had been reliably informed that Jace had been dragged out by both Izzy and Clary for him and Clary to get their clothes sorted. The experience had left him scarred apparently. Well, that's what happened when your parabatai is getting married.

The day before the wedding, I went to the Institute. It was tough to say goodbye to Magnus, Max and Rafe but I knew that I would be seeing them the next day, to tie the final knot to make us an official family. Saying that, wedding or no wedding, I still saw us as an official family. I hardly got any sleep due to the fact I was both very nervous and very excited. The day itself, I had Izzy and Jace help me get ready, and I'm glad it was them. I had thought that all I needed to do was put the suit on, but when I admitted this to Izzy, she nearly had a heart attack. Apparently there is so much more to do. When we were ready, we went down to portal to Idris. As Magnus was unable to do the portal, his friend Caterina had stepped in to do the job, and I was grateful for her to do it. Magnus was portaling himself and the boys over to Idris. Everyone else from the Institute had already gone through. Taking he hands of my siblings, I went through to Alicante.

Once in Alicante, Izzy joined our parents, Simon and Clary and went to the hall where the ceremony would be taking place. Whilst we were waiting, Jace looked over at me and simply said "I'm proud of you Alec. I'm glad I get to call you my brother and parabatai" which forced a lump into my throat. Not trusting my voice, I hugged him. After the hug, it was time for us to join everyone else. Walking down the aisle with Jace, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach, but they were controlled by seeing the smiles of those who meant something to me. Keeping my eyes trained to the front, I heard Magnus enter (rather than having someone give him away, Magnus would have Max and Rafe walk him down the aisle) and before I knew it, he was standing next to me. They boys then joined my parents, who were struggling to keep back their tears.

Both Magnus and I made our vows to each other. Magnus had learnt the runes he needed to draw on me. I had had a specific ring made, with the wedding runes printed on the inside. I'd been given the idea whilst talking to Tessa. Apparently, whilst she had been married to Will Herondale, he had given her a bracelet with the wedding runes on them as a wedding anniversary present. The whole ceremony felt like a dream, almost too good to be true. But it was true, not a dream at all. We were joined by the boys once the ceremony was over, and we walked down the aisle, united as the Lightwood-Banes.


	15. Sickness and the Cohort

**If you haven't finished Lord of Shadows, please don't read this chapter as it is full of spoilers. It's a sad chapter, but I promise that the next chapter will be so much happier**

 **NuggetsOfDemigodWisdom: I'm so happy you liked the last chapter! Thank you so much.**

 **If there is something you liked/didn't like or if there is something you want to see in future chapters, let me know in the reviews!**

 **I own nothing but the plot**

***Alec P.O.V***

There was something affecting Warlocks, and that terrified me. Magnus hadn't wanted me to know at first, but I noticed. He took longer to recover from his magic, and he didn't use as much magic before getting exhausted. He was seeing less clients as a result. For a while, I trusted him enough to tell me in his own time what was going on, but after an instance in which he had collapsed from exhaustion, I made him tell me. Whatever was happening to him, was affecting other Warlocks as well, both Tessa and Caterina were suffering the same fate. Tessa and Jem were trying to find out what it was, to see if they could find either cause or cure, but as Tessa was suffering, it was taking a bit longer. I'm glad Tessa had Jem to look after her. A thought then hit me, if this mysterious sickness was affecting Warlocks, would it affect Max? The thought of our little blueberry, who, at only three years old had scarcely lived, hadn't had the time the master the magic that might make him sick.

As time went on, Magnus got worse. It was getting harder to hide it from the boys, but I always managed to keep them distracted long enough for Magnus to recover. His worse bought of exhaustion had happened when were in Alicante to help the Blackthorns. Annabel Blackthorn had been brought back to life by Malcolm, whom she had promptly killed, a fact very few of us knew. As far as most of the council had been concerned, Zara Dearborn had been the one to end his life. Magnus was one of the few Annabel had decided she could trust, meaning he had promised her he would help her when she testified. Unfortunately this hadn't gone to plan.

Before leaving the London Institute, Magnus had used a lot of magic to create end the binding spell that bound Mark and Christina together, which had completely drained him, then had to create a portal from London to Alicante. It hadn't been long before he'd collapsed, and wasn't responding to anything. Dad, Jia and Annabel had needed to leave for the meeting shortly after the collapse, and I had decided to stay with Magnus, Kit and Kieran. I'm not sure how long before things started going wrong. We (Kit, Kieran and I) could hear the chaos going on in the meeting. Kieran seemed to think that someone had died, because he could hear people screaming and smelt blood. Who was I do question the senses of a faerie hunter? We didn't have to wait long before we had confirmation of just how bad things were, with the arrival of the centurion Diego, who informed me that my father had been injured. I had my suspicions he had more to say, but I wasn't going to hang around to find out. Kissing Magnus, I left, dreading what I was about to find.

Whatever chaos we had thought was happening, had been underestimated. Zara and her cohort were at their worst (and that was saying something) meaning that knew they were the cause of this. People were running around everywhere, shouting and screaming, but I wasn't listening to anything they were saying. It was clear that the Dias was at the centre of the chaos, and I had a sickening feeling that that's were my dad was. The closer I got, the sicker I felt. Of all the things I was expecting, what met my eyes was so much worse.

There were parts of the mortal sword all over the floor. On one part of the Dias, Julian Blackthorn was clutching the body of his sister Livia, the hilt of the sword sticking out her chest. Julian was begging her to open her eyes, but it was clear she was gone. Emma had curled herself into a ball, and seemed to be holding herself together, clearly feeling her parabatais pain, and his youngest sister Dru was just sobbing. This was just another cruel thing to happen to a family that had already suffered more than enough. My eyes then fell to Jia, who was kneeling next to a body. Not just any body, Dads body. It seemed Livia wasn't the only casualty of whatever had happened. It was obvious he was dead.

I just felt numb. I don't remember actively doing so, but I found myself sitting on the floor with my back against the wall, trying to process what was going on. In another part of the city, the love of my life was suffering some kind of Warlock sickness, and was trying to recover from having collapsed from exhaustion, and here I was, in a room full of chaos next to the body of my dead father, and was convinced that the cohort were responsible for both his death but Livia's. At some point Jia had noticed me, and filled me in on what happened. The cohort had been causing problems, even before the meeting had started. Once Annabel had been brought in front of the council, they had started shouting, exploiting her vulnerabilities. She had been tried by the sword, which had proved that Zara had been lying about killing Malcolm, something Zara hadn't taken particularly well.

This had made something snap in Annabel, causing her to stab dad in the chest, as well as Livia before she was taken mysteriously. Jia had tried to give dad some healing runes but they were too little too late. I'm not sure how long I sat where I did before deciding to move. At some point the Blackthorns had left, as did the majority of those in the hall. A few of the Silent Brothers had taken Dads body away. I don't remember consciously making the decision, but I found myself back in the room in which I had left Magnus, Kit and Kieran, only to find that Kieran had gone. Kit told me Diego had taken Kieran to the Scholomance, on the request of Christina. On looking at him properly, I could see he had been crying. I took my place next to Magnus when he started talking again. "Jia came in and told me what happened. She told me what happened to your Dad, and I'm sorry. I recently lost my Dad as well, so I sort of have an idea what you're going through. She also told me what happened to Livvy, and that the rest of the Blackthorns were at Diana's place. She wanted to take me there, but I didn't want to leave Magnus on his own, so I decided to stay. Anyway, I didn't want to impose myself on the Blackthorns grief" he said.

I didn't know much about Kit, but I knew his Dad had been ripped to pieces by demons, and shortly afterwards he had been told he was a Shadowhunter, a race of people he had been brought up to both fear and hate. Not a great experience for a fifteen year old. The Blackthorn twins, Ty and Livvy had befriended him and helped him transition into the Shadowhunter world. He'd just been told one of them was dead, and yet he had decided to stay with Magnus, someone he knew more through reputation than any personal connection, because in part, he hadn't want to grieve a friend he had known a few weeks in front of her family, giving them someone else they needed to worry about. It certainly warranted him some respect.

"Thank you for staying with him Kit" I started, then added "It doesn't seem like Magnus is going to be waking up any time soon, so I'm going to take him make to my mothers, and then I'll walk you to Diana's. You still need to grieve." He looked like he was about to protest, when something occurred to me. "You're friends with Ty am I right?" I asked, which got a nod. "Ty lost Livvy today. From what I hear, they were close, and yet they let you in. I think he needs you, and you need him", which, after thinking about what I had said, he agreed with.

Together, we took Magnus to my mothers. I carried, and Kit went in front, opening doors. Mum had been with the boys, and on seeing me carrying the boys, had distracted them long enough to slip out. Before she could ask what had happened I spoke "Mum, something awful has happened. I'll tell you once I've taken Kit to Diana's. Magnus needs to rest, make sure the boys don't see him" and with that, I took Magnus upstairs and left with Kit. I knew I needed to tell mum about the Warlock sickness, and what had happened to Dad, but was reluctant to do so, as it would be such a difficult conversation. Kit and I walked in silence the entire journey, each of us lost in our thoughts, each of us mourning someone important. Just before I left, I patted him on the shoulder, telling him to take care. He was then taken inside by Diana. The last I saw of Kit was him going to Ty, and wrapping his arms around the other boy, holding him close.

Eventually I made it back to mums. The boys were happily playing, so I took her into the kitchen and told her everything. She didn't react at first – I think she had gone into shock. But as soon as that shock wore off, she just wept. She held onto me and cried her heart out, apologising that I had been the one to see that, I was the one dealing with some awful things. I guess she felt guilty, even though she was not to blame for any of it. It was only then, standing in the kitchen holding my sobbing mother, did I allow the tears to flow.

Once we had shed our tears, Mum took a step back and looked at me, with the face of a woman who was on the war path. "To me, two things are obvious. One, we need to look into whatever is affecting Warlocks. We need to understand it, and we need to stop it. And two, we need to stop this Zara and this cohort of hers. They may not have held the blade that killed your father, but they were the reason he died" and I agreed. It as proof of just how much my mum had changed. A few years ago, she couldn't have cared less what happened to Downworlders, but now, she not only wanted to find a cure for a Warlock sickness, but she wanted to stand up to a group of Shadowhunters adamant on restricting the rights of all Downworlders.

I'd agreed with what she had said immediately. I'd sent a fire message to Clary, asking her to portal her, Jace, Izzy and Simon over. Jace and Izzy needed to know what had happened to Dad, and I knew that they would need the support of Clary and Simon once they knew. We also needed their help in helping Magnus and stopping the Cohort. Ten minutes later, a portal had opened and the four of them came through. Mum sat with Max and Rafe, and I'd repeated to them what I had told Mum. Izzy, like mum, wept until she had no more tears to cry. Jace had reacted the way I had, and seemed to just go numb, unable to process what I'd told them.

A few days later, we had Dad funeral, his ashes were put next to Max's. The next few weeks and months were spent alternating between finding a cure, and stopping the cohort. Being the heroes of the mortal war did have its advantages. People listened to us, and like us, didn't like the cohort. There were those who joined us simply because we were famous, there were those who despite not having a loyalty as such to Downworld, acknowledged we needed them and knew that the cohort would damage their willingness to help us, and there were those who were strongly against the cohort. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones gathering support, the cohort were too, but it wasn't enough. We had gained enough people and enough evidence to bring together a council to stop the cohort. We managed to prove Zara had lied about so many of the things she claimed to have done, that it made people question how they could trust any of what Zara had said, what any of them said. We had won on that front.

After a lot of research, we finally found out what was causing the sickness and were able to find a cure. It has been said that there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and no matter how dark things could get, there was always a way out to something better. There was a time, things got bad, but we pulled together and got through it, and honestly? I have never been so proud of my family.


	16. Holiday

**Sorry It's been a while since I updated! This chapter has the Lightwood-Banes go on holiday to Indonesia (Max and Rafe had originally wanted to go on holiday to Peru). As I don't speak Indonesian, I had to rely on Google Translate so if there are any mistakes, please do let me know so I can have it corrected.**

 **If there is anything you liked/didn't like of if there is anything you want to see in future chapters, let me know in the reviews!**

 **I own nothing but the plot!**

***Magnus P.O.V***

There was someone out there who had in for me, and that person was the Warlock known and Caterina Loss. Alec and I had been out at for a meal, as we didn't get to spend much time together alone without the boys, and Caterina had been babysitting. I'm not sure exactly how the conversation went (all three had made a vow of silence) but the following day, both Max and Rafe had an urge to go to Peru: the one country I was banned from. I had been nursing a mug of coffee when both boys had come up to me with wide eyes and simply went (in unison) "Papa, can we go to Peru?" which completely took me by surprise. I glanced over at Alec, who was silently laughing.

"What has caused this sudden urge to go to Peru?" I asked, trying to act all composed. Rafe shrugged and then went "family holiday?" and max nodded in agreement. If they had wanted a family holiday, they could have just asked for one. "Did Cat put you two up to this?" I asked. I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it from them. Both Rafe and Max stayed silent, and shook their heads. "Why would Aunty Cat do that Papa?" Max asked innocently. Apparently two could play the 'trying to get information out of the other one' game, and apparently a 7 year old Max was a fast learner. But it seemed two could also play the 'avoid answering the question' game, meaning I just shrugged and went "no idea" and promptly changed the conversation.

That night, once both boys had gone to bed, I decided to give Cat a call. I needed to know what had possessed her to give the boys the idea to go to Peru. As soon as see picked up the phone, the first words out my mouth were "honestly Caterina, you suggest Peru of all places?" Cat just laughed and went "I have no idea what you are talking about Magnus" which made me roll my eyes. Both Max and Rafe had played innocent, and Cat was now doing the same. "Neither Max nor Rafe had any desire to go for a family holiday prior to you babysitting, now, they not only do they want to go on holiday but they want to go to Peru. PERU, the country in case you have forgotten, I happened to be BANNED from" I stated, which made Cat laugh.

"Ok I may have said something Magnus. Peru or not, you all deserve a holiday, and if anyone is going to convince you, it's those two boys. It's a well-known fact amongst anyone who knows you that you struggle to say no to those two boys. You find it hard enough to say no to Alec, and impossible with Max and Rafe, just have some time to yourselves as a family for once will you" she said. I was about to respond, telling her we _did_ spend time as a family, when something stopped me. We did have family time, but that would only be the odd day, or for a few hours, and Alec and I had to ready should we get required for something. It would be nice to just stop, cut contact with people and have some quality family time. I thanked Cat, ended to call and went to talk to Alec.

A few days later, we had organised for us to go to Indonesia for a few days. Alec had made Maia and Lily promise not kill each other whilst he was away, and Jace not to get himself killed (or injured) whilst he was gone. I'd made arrangements so any outstanding work was done, and people knew who the nearest Warlock was should they have an emergency that couldn't wait until my return. I hadn't been to Indonesia for years, and it was Alec who made the suggestions. He promised we wouldn't go anywhere that would make me feel uncomfortable, which I was grateful for. Both Max and Rafe were incredibly excited, and they couldn't stop talking about it. One day they had spent the day with Izzy and Maryse (purely for the fact that neither of them had the boys in a while and wanted some quality time with them) and Izzy had been texting Alec all day saying they hadn't stopped talking about it.

The day came and I found myself both excited and nervous. I was excited to spend time with my family in my home country, but nervous as I knew that there were parts of the country that held some very unpleasant memories for me. Alec and I were trying to get a few more minutes of sleep when we had two highly excited boys jump on our bed chanting "HOLIDAY" at the tops of their voices. Alec had just glanced at me and had mumbled "so much for a lie in" which made me smile. Saying that, the boy's enthusiasm was infectious and it didn't take long for us all to get really excited.

Stepping through the portal into Indonesia brought back a flood of memories, but Alec slid his hand into mine and gave it a squeeze, letting me know he was there and bringing me back to reality. The boys were just standing, eyes wide open and taking it all in. Where I had portaled us was fairly close to where we would be staying. I'd rented us a house near to the coast. On seeing it, Max had turned round and in his excitement went "are we really staying there Papa?" and when I confirmed we were, he and Rafe went charging over to start exploring, but there was only so much they could do as I had the key.

On walking in, we were met with a young Indonesian girl who just looked a bit startled. Thankfully we were all glamoured as she was a mundane. "Halo" (Hello) I said, by way of breaking the silence. "Saya Magnus, keluarga saya dan saya sedang menyewa tempat ini?" (I'm Magnus, my family and I are renting this place out?) I then added, slightly confused as to why she was there. She then gave a small bow and started explaining. "Nama saya Annisa, saya dikirim untuk membersihkan sebelum Anda tiba. Saya sebenarnya tidak diberi tahu kapan Anda akan tiba. Jika saya melakukannya, saya akan pergi sebelum Anda melakukannya." (My name is Annisa, I was sent to clean before you arrived. I wasn't actually told when you'd arrive. If I had, I'd have gone before you did.)

Annisa and I spoke a bit more. I'd asked her to come every couple of days to just do a bit of tidying, and then she left. The second she was gone, both Max and Rafe continued their exploration. A couple of hours later, we'd unpacked and decided who was sleeping where. I was about to ask what people wanted to do when Rafe announced he was hungry, and demanded we fed him, which we did. We spent the holiday exploring, shopping (that was mostly me) and going to the beach. It seemed that both Max and Rafe (and Alec to a lesser extend) loved being in the sea, and I made a silent promise to let them have more time in it. Before we knew it, it was time for us to return to New York, and we were all disappointed to go home.

The following day, we went to the Institute to Max and Rafe could tell everyone about their adventures. Whilst they were talking to their current victim (otherwise known to Maryse) Alec wrapped his arms round my waist and put his chin on my shoulder. "We should have a family holiday more often" and I found myself agreeing. We had all needed it, and had all enjoyed it. "We will, I promise" I replied with, causing Alec to kiss me softly on the base of my neck.


	17. Drunk

**So in this chapter, we have Rafe getting drunk for the first time and experiencing his first hangover**

 **If there is anything you liked/didn't like or if there is something you would like to see in future chapters, let me know in the reviews**

 **I own nothing but the plot**

***Rafe P.O.V***

For some reason, there had been a spike in the number the amount of Demon activity over the last couple of weeks, meaning that Leonardo and I spent most of the time we were awake on patrol, in an attempt to at least keep them at bay. Saying that, all of the New York Shadowhunters were also patrolling, that's how serious the situation was. Max had wanted to come, but both Dad and Papa had banned him from doing so. He was still learning magic, and wasn't at a level Papa felt he could stand a chance against a demon. I think he spent the time writing a lot of his rants about the situation in letters to his girlfriend Emily, who took them all in good grace. Having done some investigations, Uncle Jace and Dad had found the source of the sudden amounts of Demons activity: a rouge Warlock who wanted to assert his dominance against the Shadowhunters by raising demons. Needless to say he was promptly dealt with.

That night, Leonardo convinced me to go to the pub with him to celebrate. Both he and I were 21, so were legally old enough to drink in the Mundane world. Max and I had been raised on stories of some of the things Papa had done whilst intoxicated, and I wanted to be able to have my own stores, as well as spent some time with my parabatai that wasn't a demon hunting patrol, so I agreed, and sent a text to Papa and Dad, saying "Going Pubbing with Leonardo, don't stay up" and off I went. It was great: not having to worry about anything and just having a laugh. I'm not sure how many drinks we'd had, but we soon reached the point in which we found anything absolutely hilarious. A few more drinks later, we'd somehow forgotten how to function, and seemed adamant on making drunken fools of ourselves. I think I may have stood in the middle of a quite road, and screamed at the top of my lungs that I was "The king of the penguins" and attempt to then act like a penguin, all of which Leonardo found absolutely hilarious.

Somehow, we managed to get back to the Institute. Despite the fact we had told people not to stay up, Aunt Clary and Uncle Jace had done just that. Aunt Clary took it upon herself to take Leonardo back to his room. I had turned and was staggering back to the door when Uncle Jace put his hand on my shoulder. "Maybe you should stay the night Rafe" he said softy. I turned to look at him then slurred "I'm fiiinnee" then continued to attempt to leave the Institute. Seemingly realising that there was no chance I was going to be convinced to stay, Uncle Jace grabbed his coat and made the decision to walk me home. "You don't have to" I managed to get out, making Uncle Jace roll his eyes. "Your father wouldn't forgive me if I let you leave and something happened to you because you were alone and drunk" he said bluntly. I grinned then, and lightly punched him in the arm, "you're the best" I slurred. Uncle Jace smiled slightly then replied with a curt "I know".

I don't remember much of the rest of the conversation, but I have a feeling that it probably went in a similar vein to what had already been said. Finally we got to the loft, and Uncle Jace walked me to the door saying "even if you can't get yourself in, at least you'll be slumped in front of the right door" and with that he left. It took about five minutes and several attempt for me to open the front door and practically fall flat on my face. Papa, Dad and Max had all stayed up. I know as Papa and Dad had grabbed hold of me and had dragged me to the sofa, and Max was in hysterics. Dad grabbed a bin and put it in front of me whilst Papa went to get me a glass of water. "I told you not to stay up" I said, leaning heavily against Dad, who had put his arm round me. "Your Papa and I wanted to make sure you got home safe, and Max wanted to see you make a fool of yourself" Dad said. I just looked up at him then with a grin. "So you guys do care about me" I said, causing Dad to frown slightly. Alcohol really did make sure you didn't think before you spoke. "Rafe, we're your family, of course we care about you" he replied.

Papa then returned with a glass of water, and made sure I drank it. "You guys are great…really super duper. I hope you have good lives" I managed to get out before leaning over and promptly vomiting in the bin Papa was holding in front of me whilst Dad rubbed my back. Max took one look at me, muttered "gross" then shuffled back to his room, realising that I was no longer going to be a source of amusement. Once I had finished being sick, Papa took the bin away to clean it, and I just slumped back into Dad. Drinking was great until you brought it all back up again. Both Dad and Papa stayed with me a bit longer, then helped me back to my room. Making sure that I was securely on my side, they left. I fell asleep soon afterwards.

The next morning, I woke up with my first hangover, despite the fact I had brought up a lot of alcohol the night before, meaning I spent most of the day curled up in bed feeling very sorry for myself. I got a text from Leonardo saying he hoped I felt as horrific as he did, which I assured him I did. Max seemed determined to walk past my room as often as possible, and making as much noise as possible. I made a silent promise to myself and to him that I would return the favour the first time Max got hungover.


End file.
